RWBY: Reckoning
by Trogdor7620
Summary: A young man from Earth is mysteriously transported to Remnant, where he meets some very familiar faces. But when he is drawn into a planet-wide conspiracy, the lines between truth and lies, fact and fiction, are beginning to blur. And he may be the only one who can stop it. A self insertion fiction of RWBY.
1. Chapter 1

**So after watching Season 1 of RWBY over and over again throughout the holidays, I've decided to waste away the hours by writing a new story. What you're looking at is a RWBY Self-insertion.**

**Now, before you start reading/hit the back button, I want to clarify a few things before we go any further.**

**1. I know how people generally react to self-insertion fanfics, and I don't want this to go down that road. I'm making a concerted effort to establish how far out of his element my character truly is.**

**2. I'm not going to use my real name for two reasons: privacy, and my name doesn't fit into RWBY. As such, my character is named Darrel Conway. Darrel is a corruption of the Aboriginal name Darel, which means "blue sky". Conway is simply an Welsh name meaning "a yellow hound". If you don't believe me, check babynames .com .au (remove the spaces) and put those names in.**

**3. There will be shipping. I've decided on what pairs there will be. And while I appreciate and respect all the pairings out there, I've had to narrow it down. As such, there will be Ruby/Weiss, Blake/Sun, Jaune/Pyrrha, Nora/Ren, and Yang/OC. (I get the feeling that the last one is asking for trouble, but look at some other self-insertion fics. They romanced canon characters all the time. So don't judge me.)**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Bachelor Pad Test**

'_Search endlessly, fight till we're free, fly past the edge of the sea..._'

The hard rock that was Avenged Sevenfold's Carry On blasted my ear buds, deafening me to the pounding rain that struck the car roof. Driving in this weather seemed crazy: weather in Victoria, Australia was crazy, admittedly, but this was ridiculous. The sky was black with storm clouds, and it was raining so hard, the normally populated town of Rye looked to be abandoned. Even cars had deserted the streets.

After a few moments, the car pulled to a stop, outside a house. It didn't have anything special: just a few windows, a crumbling chimney, and peeling paint. My dad, who was driving, switched the ignition off, tapped me on the shoulder and motioned to my ear buds, telling me to take them out. I complied, and stopped the music in the process.

"We're here. Get ready to run; we're going to get soaked." He opened the door and dashed to the trunk of the car, yanking it open. Already the rain had sodden his shirt through. I sighed: Dad had insisted on taking me, my brother, and himself up to Rye, as a way to get everything ready for when I turned 18 next year. I didn't know what he was talking about: he just dropped words like "father-son bonding" and "prep for real world". I didn't care: the weather was foul, the house was tiny, and I had no reception on my phone.

I muttered a quick prayer to not get wet, opened the car door and dashed for my life to the house. Unfortunately, I didn't get the best footing, and fell face first into a massive mud-filled puddle. As I angled my head up, I saw my brother silently guffawing at my predicament as he walked to the front door under his own umbrella. With my mud-strewn face twisted into an angry glare, I raised my hand, and flashed a rude gesture at his back.

"Come on, Darrel. Get out of the puddle. You can have a shower when you get inside." Dad was carrying two duffel bags under one arm, a backpack across his back, and an umbrella in his free hand. I spat out some dirt, and stood up, wiping my face free of any filth that threatened to invade my eyes and ears. Silently grumbling, I walked to the door, and followed Dad and my brother inside, clothes dripping with muddy water.

Dad had dumped the bags on the couch, and was out on the verandah, letting his umbrella drain. My brother had already taken one of the bedrooms for himself, and was listening to his iPhone. Trust him. I went to explore the house. From what I'd heard, it was a typical bachelor pad. From what I saw, it was a dump: the shower looked as if no one had bothered to clean it in days; the pantry was strewn with dusty food products that had expired 5 years ago, the windows either didn't open at all or let a freezing draft in, the furniture was covered in moth bites, and smelled as if something had died underneath it, and worst of all, there were only two beds available. Someone would have to take the couch.

"Well, what do you think, son? Looks like the kind of place you'd expect to stay at?" I jumped about a foot in the air, as Dad came in from the hallway. After climbing down from the ceiling, I looked around once again at the place.

"I think next time, check and see if a better deal is available." I muttered. I didn't want to live here for two minutes, let alone two weeks. Dad laughed, and clapped me on the shoulder.

"Nonsense! This house is perfect! I'm giving you two the chance to see what living as bachelors will be like!"

Oh crap. There it is: the bachelor pad test. It was something we had promised to do as kids, though it was a moment of childish naiveté. It was a time where Dad would take my brother and I away somewhere and supervise us for two weeks. Judging by the state of the house, he had no faith in our money management skills.

'Go ahead and pick a bed. There's enough for everybody.' He swept his arm around the room. He was wrong: there were only two beds, and my brother had taken one already. And given my dad's obnoxiousness, he'd take the other. I groaned, and spared myself the humiliation by falling on the couch.

"It's decided! You'll take one for the team then. Thanks for that, my back was killing me." He groaned in faux-pain, and trudged to the shower. At that point, I remembered I was still muddied from the puddle outside. I stood up, and dashed after Dad, only for him to slam the door against my nose, staining the already dirty door with dried mud. I trudged back to the couch, and flopped face first into the rancid cushion. This was going to be a long two weeks.

* * *

**Well, there is the beginning. Hopefully you enjoyed it. Seriously, I hope you did, because I have lost sleep over writing this whole fic. I pour heart and soul into this, so don't diss it.**

**Just constructive criticism or praise, thanks. Preferably the former.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Whew, this chapter took a while to write up. And Darrel hasn't even arrived in Remnant yet! I am definitely going to lose some sleep over this.**

**Also, if you're expecting something big in this chapter, unfortunately, that isn't the case. This is just Episode 1 with a little bit tacked onto the beginning.**

**I promise I won't do this very often, but I wanted to alternate between Darrel and RWBY, and besides, what would you rather see: Darrel being pushed around for five days, or a novelisation of Ruby Rose?**

**...**

**I thought so.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Ruby Rose**

The young girl, no older than fifteen, pushed the door open, causing a bell to jingle. The shopkeeper, an elderly man looked up from his documents, and smiled at the young girl standing before him. She was a regular patron of his store, and knew her well. Sometimes she came in to look at the magazines, other times she had purchased packets of Dust and weapon mods. But no matter what she came for, she always entered with a smile on her face, a spring in her step, and she brightened up everybody's day just by being there.

"Hello, miss. Are you looking for something in particular, or just browsing tonight?" the shopkeeper asked leaning on the counter. She looked up from under her hood, and smiled warmly.

"No thank you, sir. I just heard that the latest issue of _Weapons_ is out. You wouldn't happen to have a copy, would you?"

The shopkeeper laughed.

"Why, yes. Only got it in today. In the back, third rack from the bottom."

The young girl smiled, and flashed a thumbs up at him. Then, in a flurry of rose petals, she had moved from the counter to the magazine rack on the back wall, already flicking through issue #228 of _Weapons_. He heard some soft music, and assumed she must be listening to her Diskus music player. She did like her music loud: she wouldn't be moving from there for a while.

As the bell taped to the door jingled once again, the elderly shopkeeper looked up at the potential customers, only to be somewhat perplexed at their appearance: four of them wore black suits and bowler hats, while the fifth had orange hair that swept over his right eye, and wore a white suit. He leaned over the counter, and studied the Dust crystals the shopkeeper had on display. He looked up at the shopkeeper.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?" the man in the white suit asked, while one of the men surrounding him pulled out a firearm and aimed it at the shopkeeper's chest. Instinctively, the man raised his arms in fear. Now he recognized the man. Roman Torchwick, notorious criminal. Well known for his dubious methods, his demeanor was affable, but when annoyed, he was terrifying. He had eluded the police for months using guile, bribery, intimidation, and threats.

"P-please! Just take my Lien and leave!" He begged, but Roman simply shushed him, as a misguided attempt to assuage his fear. The effect was lost when he was staring down the barrel of a gun.

"Calm down. We're not here for your money." Roman reassured the shopkeeper. Then his eyes swiveled to the men surrounding him.

"Grab the Dust."

One of the black suits placed a black container on the counter, and opened it. Inside was a row of canisters, well known for storing Dust in its liquefied form. While in this form, Dust was used to replenish Aura, and could be synthesized to coat arrows and bullets in various materials, giving them a variety of effects. Three of the men grabbed the canisters and attached them to the vials of Dust placed on the walls of the store, draining them dry in seconds. The fourth in the black suit, placed a briefcase on the counter and indicated to the crystals on display underneath.

"Crystals. Burn. Uncut." The man gestured to the display case, and the shopkeeper nervously picked up a crystal and began to fill the briefcase. All that could save him now… was a miracle.

* * *

Meanwhile, one of the mobsters had noticed a young girl reading a magazine. She seemed like an easy target, so he pulled out his red katana, and held it pointing at her back.

"Alright, kid, put your hands where I can see them."

He didn't get a response: the girl continued to read. The mobster was getting annoyed. He was being paid good money to pick up Dust, not to pester a teenager.

"Hey, I said put your hands in the air! You got a death wish or something?!" He started to walk to her, and grabbed her shoulder, causing her to spin around and her hood to fall off, revealing a pale-skinned teenage girl with black hair and silver eyes. She was wearing headphones, which explained her lack of response. The mobster pointed to her ear, telling her to take them off. She complied without hesitation.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I said, put your hands in the air! Now!"

"Are you… robbing me?"

The mobster had had enough. It was as if this kid went through this every night. What could she possibly do to him? But he had a job to do.

"YES!"

"Ohhhh…" The young girl smirked, like she relished the thought of being mugged. And before the goon could blink, the girl had jumped up, and dropkicked the goon halfway across the store, crashing into a display case and burying him in packets of powdered Dust and ammunition clips. Torchwick simply looked from the crystal he was fidgeting with, and nodded to another henchman. He ran up, and raised a gun. But before he could pull the trigger, the girl launched forward in a cloud of red petals, and kicked him through the window, shattering it and knocking him unconscious.

The men in the suits looked outside the ruined window, to see the young girl unfurl a gun into a gigantic scythe, taller than her by a considerable margin. The man in the white suit scowled at the hero, who merely responded with a smirk and a twirl of her weapon, planting it into the ground.

Ruby Rose was her name. A student of Signal Academy, one of the many training academies for Huntsmen and Huntresses, she had always dreamed of helping people, defending those who couldn't defend themselves. And now, the situation called for her, to stop this robbery.

"Okay…" Torchwick sized up the girl, and nodded to his henchmen.

"Get her!"

Barely 15 seconds had passed before Ruby had knocked out all three henchmen, with little effort. One she had kicked in the face, another had been hammered to the ground by the end of her scythe, and the third was launched to his boss's feet after a brutal beating in mid-air. His boss looked down at the moaning mook with a look of disappointment.

"Well, you were worth every cent. Truly, you were." He said sarcastically, then turned to the girl who had made a mockery of his henchmen. Dropping his cigar, he ground it to a pulp with his cane.

"Well, Red, I can say this has been a truly eventful evening. And as much as I'd like to stick around…" The tip of his cane unfolded, revealing a crosshair.

"I'm afraid this is where we part ways." He fired a round at the girl who had foiled his plan. Not sticking around to see the result, he dashed to a nearby fire escape, and began to climb to the roof.

What the man failed to see was that "Red" had managed to dodge his attack, and was in hot pursuit. As soon as he reached the roof, the girl landed behind him.

"Hey!" The girl yelled. Roman didn't turn around, just frowned at his foe's doggedness.

"Persistent…" he muttered. Before she could respond, a M-27 VTOL 'Bullhead' rose in front of him. Bullheads were a tiltjet plane, capable of a Mach 0.5 speed. Initially, they were developed to drop soldiers and Hunters into combat zones quickly. But since Remnant had known a time of peace for a long while, the Bullhead had long since been phased out, and was now available for general purchase, though it had a hefty price tag.

He climbed aboard the getaway vehicle, and turned to face Ruby, holding a Burn Dust crystal.

"End of the line, Red!" he yelled over the roaring of the engines. And with that, he threw the gem at Ruby's feet. She stared at it, confused. Once again, Roman raised his cane, and fired a round, detonating the gemstone in a column of fire. He laughed triumphantly, but stopped after seeing a purple glow through the smoke.

Another fighter had entered the fray, blocking the man's strike with a purple glyph. The new combatant had blonde hair, green eyes, and wore a black cape, lined with a purple interior. Roman immediately recognized her as Glynda Goodwitch, elite Huntress and strict teacher at Beacon Academy. If she was here, this would be a problem. She adjusted her glasses, and swung her wand, unleashing a stream of purple energy bolts, which struck the Bullhead. Roman stumbled around the cargo bay, dropping his cane, and into the cockpit. A woman was trying to keep the Bullhead under control. She remained focused on the instruments in front of her.

"We got a Huntress!" Roman yelled above the blaring sirens. The woman nodded, and stood up, gesturing to the pilot seat, telling Roman to take control. He complied.

The woman who had begun to attack the Bullhead, swiped her wand in the air, and summoned storm clouds above the jet. Roman looked at the storm in amazement: he had heard stories about Glynda's abilities, but seeing them in action was unbelievable. Immediately, the black clouds began to rain sharpened icicle fragments, striking the vehicle, one nearly impaling Roman's head.

His accomplice finally began to retaliate with attacks, unleashing five columns of fire where Glynda was standing. She simply dodged the attack, and used debris to form a purple spear, which flew at the Bullhead. Roman's ally fired punctuated blasts at the spear, but it simply reformed. Roman tilted the Bullhead, deflecting Glynda's attack skyward. The spear split into three, and began to surround the aircraft. His partner let loose a fiery pulse, which vaporized the debris.

At that point, Ruby decided now would be the best time to jump in and help. Folding her weapon into it's basic gun mode, she unloaded round after round at the female in the Bullhead. The woman simply held her hand up, and blocked every bullet like they were annoying insects. She raised her hand again, and prepared one final attack. As the columns of fire began to charge, Glynda pushed Ruby out of harm's way with her wand, and flipped forward, the blast singing her boots. As she looked up, she saw the Bullhead disappearing into the night sky. Frowning, Glynda turned to the one who had managed to stop the robbery. She was met with a gleeful look.

"You're a Huntress?" The girl asked, with a hint of awe in her voice. And then she grinned from ear to ear.

"_Can I have your autograph?!_"

* * *

**Yeesh. Initially, I was going to include the 'interrogation' of Ruby, but it proved to be too much for me. Besides, this is, what, 2,000 words? That's enough progress for now. I'll do more when I can.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Oy vey, this one was done in a very short space of time, all while listening to 'I Burn'. Believe me, I know that the previous chapter wouldn't be very interesting, mainly due to the fact that I barely changed anything from Episode 1 of RWBY. I promise, it won't be like that for good. Other moments that weren't shown in RWBY will be written. Anyway, Chapter 3, enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Eye Of The Storm**

'_I hope those two appreciate what doing for them. Selfish asses. Why did I agree to this?_'

Five days into our 2-week holiday, and I already wanted to escape. Dad had cooked some food for himself, but he had left the dishes in the sink, telling me it was my turn to wash up for the fifth day in a row, when we had established a rotational schedule. My brother had slept for most of the week, and only got up to go to the bathroom, leaving an unfavorable gift in the bathroom for me to discover ten minutes later without fail. Now, Dad had asked me to go to the supermarket through the pouring rain.

The rain had refused to let up, forcing me to get soaked again. I emerged from the supermarket, carrying bags of groceries and home necessities, though I doubt that beer counted as a home necessity. Dad had argued, and settled the tie in his favor. Finally arriving home, soaked to the skin and holding two sodden plastic bags of soiled foodstuffs, I had placed the dripping bags on the counter, and trudged to Dad's bedroom, asking to take a nap.

"No, Darrel, you agreed to take the couch for sleeping, remember?"

"Yeah, Dad, but you're sitting on my sleeping area, you're not using your bed right now, and I need some shuteye. I'm going and you can't stop me." I retorted. Dad got up, and grabbed my shoulder. Spinning around, he saw the anger on my face. I had had enough. I wanted to let fly at him. It would be easy: I had done some training for fighting. I could hold my own. But Dad looked sympathetically at me.

"Look, Darrel. I know you hate it here, but I'm doing this so you can appreciate living at home." He said

"Bullshit. You've had me slaving away for the entire day running after you and my brother. You've left dishes in the sink when it was your turn to clean up, you've sent me into the rain so I can do a beer run, you've taken up my 'bed', and you say you're trying to make me appreciate living at home? I call bullshit." I growled. Dad didn't recoil, only gripped my shoulder.

"Son, I know that you're angry, but this is for your own good. You need…"

"Oh, _I _need? What about you? "_Darrel, do this! Darrel, do that!_" That's all I've heard since I've come here to this dump, and you've never thanked me for anything! I'm not your slave, Dad!" I was yelling, causing Dad to hold me tighter. My shoulder was beginning to ache at being squeezed so tight. Dad's face began to twist in anger.

"Darrel, be quiet for two seconds! I'm trying to…"

"There it is again! You're just telling me what to do! That's all I've heard for two days! I'm sick of doing everything here! You have legs! You're not disabled! Don't tell me some cockshit story about how I don't pull my own weight! I have done nothing but live on my knees since I got here! I'm sick of it, and I'm sick of _YOU!"_ I screamed in his face, and punched him in the jaw. Letting go of my shoulder, he stumbled back into the closet, falling on his rump, and having a bucket land on his head. Seizing the opportunity, I shut the door, and wedged a mop between the door and the opposite wall, locking him in. Then, I slammed the front door open, and ran into the pouring rain and mist.

* * *

I don't know how long I had spent running, but all I remembered was sand slipping between my toes. Thunder boomed overhead as I reached the beach, nearly 10 kilometers from home. I panted, a searing pain in my side, and out of breath. I didn't care about getting wet; I didn't care about how much trouble I would be in when I would be taken home. All I cared about was letting out all the anger and pain that had been bottled up inside for years.

Mum had died a couple of years ago, when I was 15, and I was still having trouble getting used to the fact that I would never see her again. I never had a lot of friends growing up, and I kind of sucked at talking socially to people. Sometimes, I wished that I could just escape from the world for a few days. But what good does wishing do? It didn't bring me friends. It didn't bring my mother back from the dead. It sure as hell won't bring me a form of release.

I bent down to the wet sand, feeling it displace between my fingers. Clasping a seashell, I picked it up, and in a rage, I threw it into the raging water, watching it skim across the surface. Standing up, I let out an incoherent scream to the heavens, as if asking to be struck by a bolt of lightning right then and there. Falling to my knees, my tears blurred with the rain, as the memories of my dead mother and the life I had wanted to have flashed through my mind.

"Yes, that's right. Let it all out. It's one of many ways to deal with pain."

A female voice. Spinning around, grabbing a nearby stick, I held it up at the intruder. The woman who stood before me was wearing a black hooded cloak, which was undoubtedly sodden through. Aside from her clothing, her goldenrod coloured eyes, appeared to be piercing straight into my soul. I dropped the stick in confusion, and she approached me, cautiously, but calmly.

_'You have known pain. Loss. Suffering. Your soul screams in agony in harmony with your heart. You seek a way to escape this anguish. You need not speak further. I can grant you this wish.'_ The woman's mouth did not move, but her voice rasped in my brain. She removed her hood, showing her dark skin, and emerald green hair, with what appeared to be two red skunk stripes flowing down the sides. But what was most bizarre, was the pair of white lion ears protruding from the top of her head.

"You may be the one who will deliver us to safety. I will entrust you with this. Guard it with your life." She held out her arms, revealing a crystal resting in her hands. It was chipped in some places, and seemed to be old, but it was glowing with an eerie light in all the colors of the rainbow, from red, to yellow, to green, to blue, and back to red. I looked up at the woman who seemed all too eager to trust a stranger she had met on a beach in the rain.

"What do you mean 'deliver you to safety'? What the hell are you talking about?" I needed to know more before I took hold of the rainbow gem of death. She said nothing, just forced the crystal into my hand.

The crystal lit up like a firework, unleashing a rainbow coloured beam to the heavens. As it struck the clouds, I looked up. There seemed to be a disturbance in the clouds. They seemed to grow darker, and moved in a circular pattern, like a tornado was about to strike. The beam disappeared, and it stopped raining for a moment. Looking at the crystal, I wondered what had happened. But when I looked up, the woman who had passed this to me had disappeared into thin air. She couldn't have gone far. There weren't many places to hide around here.

But my thoughts were silenced, when a wave swept over me, knocking me to the ground. The swell seemed to be getting rougher: now was a good time to leave. But before I could scramble to my feet, another wave swamped me, drawing me to the ocean. I began to scrabble at the sand, but it was like trying to grip onto a featureless wall. The third wave, this one the biggest, took me over, and washed me out to sea.

Panicking, I attempted to swim for the surface, desperate for oxygen. But something appeared to be weighing me down. Looking down, fronds of seaweed had wrapped around my ankles like tentacles, tugging me down to the deep ocean floor. If I could get my sneakers off, I could still make it back to shore. But everything was beginning to dim as carbon dioxide began to flood my lungs. I flailed at my shoes, doing anything I could to release them, losing energy. One thought thudded in my head.

'_Get out! Now!_'

I continued to struggle, until finally, a crucial bubble of air escaped my lips, and my vision began to darken. I saw a light at the bottom of the ocean, the water swirling crazily as the seaweed drew my limp body closer. As I approached the maelstrom, I finally, and mercifully, blacked out.

* * *

**DUN DUN DUUUUUUNNNNNN!**

**What will happen to our hero? What adventures await him beyond the vortex? Will he be alright?**

**He's the main character, of course he'll be alright.**

**Anyway, I've only managed to do about 1/8th of the fiction so far. I don't have the next chapter written out yet, but I do have others.**

**One more thing: I'm having trouble deciding on a weapon and Semblance for Darrel. I'll list some choices, see what the community thinks.**

**Weapon:**  
**1. Backpack - Shoulder cannons - Cybernetic Gauntlets**  
**2. Gauntlets - Wrist-mounted crossbows - Pincers - Wrist-mounted Swords**  
**3. Machine pistols - bladed boomerangs - skates**

**Semblance:  
1. Phytokinesis (Telekinetic control over leaves)**  
**2. Super strength**  
**3. Invisibility**


	4. Chapter 4

**Phew, this one took a while. After a minor case of writer's block, I've managed to finally work out how to write this. Chapter 5 is a ways away yet, so don't ask for it. I try with updates, but I'm not at my computer 24/7. I need sleep and time to myself too, you know.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Saying Goodbye**

The buxom blonde brawler slipped her yellow helmet off, shaking her head and letting her voluminous locks fall freely from her scalp, where they had been bunched up. Her lavender eyes squinted, not quite used to the harsh sunlight overhead. Scanning the area, she saw several students saying goodbye to their parents, friends, and other assorted loved ones.

Her name was Yang Xiao Long, recent graduate of Signal Academy.

She smiled at the scene before her: her father, mother and her younger sister had seen her off back home. Her mom had given her her bags, her dad had hugged her, telling her how proud he was, and she said goodbye to her beloved sister. Though while she was hugging the young girl (and crushing her lungs in the process), she could have sworn that a knowing smile had crossed across her face.

"Yang? You ready to go?"

Yang spun around to find a familiar face: Professor Qrow, her favorite teacher. 'Uncle Qrow', as he preferred to be called, was one of her old teachers back at Signal Academy, and the second of two scythe-wielders Yang knew, the other being her sister, Ruby. Qrow had taken Ruby as his personal apprentice, helping with her combat skills, assisting her with managing her weapon, and acting as a second father. A cold wind was blowing over the dock, causing Qrow's cloak to flap in the wind. He was still dressed in his teaching clothes: black armor with a feather pattern, black greaves, and white vambraces. His beard, permanently styled in an unkempt fashion, flapped in the wind.

"Hi, Uncle Qrow! What are you doing here? I thought you were meant to be teaching at Signal today!" Yang wrapped her arms around Qrow's midsection, squeezing him in a tight hug. A gasp elicited from Qrow's lips as the life was crushed out of him. When he managed to get some oxygen into his lungs, he stroked Yang's hair.

"I just wanted to see you off, Yang. I won't see you for a while, and I was worried I'd miss you. Besides, I have the day off, and your father had a surprise for you." Qrow explained, prying himself free of the death grip Yang was inflicting on her. Yang looked up at him quizzically, and folded her arms across her chest, a sly smirk on her face.

'What do you mean, Uncle Qrow?' Yang asked innocently. Knowing Uncle Qrow, he'd probably have a weapon mod, or some special Dust packets, or even a book of puns. Qrow always teased her about her lame jokes. But before Qrow could answer, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she was shocked to see...

"RUBY?!"

"Hey, sis! You thought you could ditch me, huh?" her younger sister smiled. Yang was flabbergasted: Ruby had another two years at Signal to go before she could apply for Beacon Academy! How in the name of Grimm did she get accepted to Beacon 2 years early?

"Yeah, you're probably wondering what I'm doing here. Well, turns out..." She took a deep breath, and launched into a fast paced spiel about the attempted robber at the Dust shop, how she single handedly foiled Roman's plans, and how Professor Goodwitch had stepped in to help out, followed up with Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon, offering her a place in the academy.

"Jeez, sis. One, get some oxygen before you pass out. Two, THAT'S AMAZING!" Yang shouted, while pulling Ruby into one of her patented crushing hugs. As Ruby grunted in pain, Qrow smiled. He always loved how the two sisters showed so much love for each other. Whenever Ruby was in trouble, Yang was always there to bail her out. And when Yang was in over her head, Ruby would be right behind her to save her from the mess.

The airship emitted a low noise: the 5-minute warning before the transport left for Beacon Academy. Yang let go of Ruby, and dashed to her motorcycle, mounting it, and softly wheeling it into the cargo bay. Ruby scratched her head, following her.

"You're not bringing Bumblebee, are you?" she asked nervously. Yang laughed.

"Well, why not?"

"Because I remember the last time I rode on that thing! You ever heard of a thing called a 'handbrake'?"

Yang gasped melodramatically, and caressed her two-wheeled beauty with both hands.

"Don't wisten to a ting the cwazy wed girl says, sweetheart. She didn't mean it." Yang whispered, as if she would be soothing a 3 month old baby. Ruby sighed irritably. Ever since Yang had built her customized Voidmaw Oppress motorbike, with a Dust powered supercharger, neon backlit panels, and high-end gear ratio, she had been a little... obsessed with it. Almost to the point that teetered between insanity and craziness. Once, someone left a barely noticeable scratch in the right panel. The guilty party was found in a bloodied heap, bones broken, burns on 65% of his body, and several other injuries.

The cargo ramp slowly raised up, leaving a small gap between the ship and the dock. At this point, Yang noticed Ruby had forgotten something.

"Uh, sis? Did you remember your weapon?" Yang asked. Ruby felt where Crescent Rose was normally placed, and her eyes grew as wide as dinner plates.

"Aw man! I must have left it with Uncle Qrow!" she cried. And before Yang could blink, Ruby had disappeared in a cloud of rose petals, moving like the wind to the closing cargo ramp. Leaping off of the edge, she dashed to Uncle Qrow, who was holding her beloved weapon in his hands.

"My sweetheart! Don't ever leave my side again!" Ruby sighed lovingly as she cuddled the rifle. Qrow cleared his throat, and Ruby looked up. Suddenly remembering where she was supposed to be, she turned around and ran for the departing airship, sliding her weapon onto the small of her back. By now, the gap was a yawning chasm, and even though Ruby had her speed, it was unlikely she could make the jump. Nevertheless, she leapt, screaming her lungs out. She began to fall, just short of the ramp.

"YAAAAANNNNNGGGG!" Ruby screamed in terror. Yang dashed to the edge of the ramp and reached for her sister's flailing arm, her hair billowing in the wind, a look of worry frozen on her face.

* * *

_"Do you sense that?"_  
_"Sense what?"_  
_"The changing of the guard. Our promised warrior is to arrive."_  
_"Legends. You are merely grasping at fairy tales and stories. Ancient manuscripts that have no weight in an argument."_  
_"Yet, I feel their presence. They enter our world anew."_  
_"Such anomalies will not slip by unnoticed."_  
_"You and I knew this would be a consequence. What other choice do we have?"_

* * *

For some strange and incomprehensible reason, the wind seemed to change direction. But not something as subtle as from north to south. Rather, an incredibly strong updraft, whirling from the chasm beneath. Ruby soared up, using her cape as a makeshift parachute, catching the drift, and rising into Yang's arms. Straining, she pulled her sister up the ramp, just as it snapped closed. The two tumbled down back to the ground, landing in a heap.

Ruby laughed, as did Yang after a few moments. Neither could believe what had just happened. Still laughing, they untangled themselves and skipped up to the cabin. Given what the two sisters had just went through, anything else that Fate dared to throw at them would be child's play.

* * *

Back on the docks, Qrow looked to the sky, as if searching for something. He had felt the disturbance in the wind. He pulled his hood up, and walked back to his car. Upon entering it, he pulled out his scroll, and began typing incessantly. Ozpin needed to know what had just happened. If what the manuscripts said was true, then the events that would come in the next few months would herald Remnant's salvation... or it's destruction.

* * *

**Not my best work, but this was done in the space of about two hours. And yes, there will be more non-canon chapters of RWBY. I only put this in to establish the sisterly dynamic between Ruby and Yang. Also, Uncle Qrow! That's got to be worth something, right?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Man, my fingers hurt.**

**Anyway, Darrel wakes up in Remnant. At long last, the real story begins!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: A Dust-y Meeting**

"Ugh… how much did I drink?"

As my eyes slowly opened, I rubbed my head in a vain attempt to stave off the migraine that was tiny demons stabbing miniscule pitchforks into my cerebellum. As my tiredness began to drain, looking at the hands that were cradling my aching head, I noticed that they seemed to have… fingerless combat gloves? Looking at my arms, a pair of gauntlets was attached to them. As my eyes drew attention to my body, I saw that I was no longer wearing my hoodie and jeans, but a yellow tunic, blue jacket, blue greaves and a bandanna! What the hell kind of party was I at?!

Wait. The last thing I remember is being underwater, and being pulled into some kind of portal. Anything else is a blank, but whoever pulled this prank on me is going to get their ass kicked. I threw myself up, and walked to the window. But when I got there, I nearly fainted.

I appeared to be flying in a plane of some kind, soaring high above a large town, unlike anything I had ever seen. The streets were populated, yet there were no skyscrapers like back home. Continuing to study the landscape before me, I was distracted by a blonde haired boy who was retching, as if trying to suppress vomiting and clearly failing. Looking at his style of clothing, he wore a black hoodie, damaged blue jeans, and white armor. He also had a sheathed longsword strapped to his belt. Looking back to the view, I tried to find a landmark telling me wher…

Hang on.

White armor, black hoodie, sword, blonde hair, retching…

Jaune Arc?!

What in the name of God is going on?! I wake up in a strange plane, above an unfamiliar town, and I end up standing next to a fictional character?! If this was some kind of prank… I barely had the chance to finish my thought, as a news report was projected as a hologram directly through me, giving me a shock and causing me to fall back onto my rear. Projected on the window was a man posing in a police mug shot. Without even looking at the slab he was holding, I recognized him immediately as Roman Torchwick. I didn't listen to the news reports: I was still trying to piece together everything that was happening.

Okay, from what I remember, my dad and I had a falling out, I ran to the beach, and some woman gave me a crystal. Then… then… what? It was a feeling. Cold, dark, and wet. Like I was being held underwater. And then, I wake up here, in the world of RWBY. Either I'm having some crazy ass dream, or…

No. No, it wasn't possible. People couldn't just jump dimensions like that. It broke every law of physics I knew. Clearly, this was a dream. Hopping to my feet, I decided to try and wake up. Holding my gloved hand up beside my face, I prepared to slap myself silly when I noticed something else on the vambraces tied to my arms.

A pair of thin blades, as long as my forearm, folded into gaps in my gauntlet. At the joint of my elbow, was a circular device, though I had no idea what it was for. Pumping my arm, I saw the two blades unfold into an oval shape, and a third knife, larger and more imposing than the two I had seen, emerged from the gauntlet, creating a sword. A blade on my wrists?!

Flicking my weapon again, I saw the massive knife-edge retreat, but the two skinnier blades had unfolded slightly. As if overcome by a strange feeling, I clenched my hand into a fist. The blades were brought together, like a set of pincers. Releasing my fist, the blades retreated from each other. A sword and a pincer. But then I remembered: every weapon in RWBY (well, aside from Jaune's sword) had a firearm build into it. I couldn't see a barrel anywhere.

"All students, we are now docking with Beacon Academy. Please do not exit the airlock until the docking ramp has been safely secured. Do not worry about your luggage for the time being. It will be brought to you at a later time. Thank you."

With a jolt, I saw people moving outside to get a glance at Beacon Academy. As I stood up, I was jostled with the crowd, moving off the airship. I think I saw Jaune run to the trash can, and heave what were the contents of his weak stomach into the waiting receptacle. I continued to move with the crowd, against my will: people just kept pushing and shoving, and soon, I found myself alone and afraid.

I sat down, and decided to grab a look at the contents of my backpack, which had gone unnoticed until now. Inside was what appeared to be a scroll, a sleeping bag, a change of clothes, which I assumed was sleepwear, and that crystal that that mysterious woman had given me. I immediately decided to keep that in the bottom of my bag, and never look at it again.

Zipping up the backpack, I got to my feet, and began to look around the campus. Not much was around as a notable landmark, and Monty Oum had never posted a map of the place. Guess I'll…

*ACHBOOM!*

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!

Oh wait, hang on, that"s just Ruby, her Dust powered sneeze, and Weiss. Looking over, both girls were covered in grey soot, and if my memory served, Weiss was more than prepared to give her a chewing out over the incident. Now I figured was as good a time as any to try and change things for the better. As I marched over, Weiss shook the soot off of her body and began to launch into her tirade.

"Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!"

_What should I say? That it was her fault that Ruby sneezed? That she shouldn't have kept the Dust in unmarked cases? I mean, she did keep shaking that vial in Ruby's face. I"m really…_

"…really sorry!"

_Though knowing how haughty she can be, she'd probably give me the same lecture. Dust is explosive after all. It's not exactly something you should manage lightly. Ugh, why am I arguing with myself?! I am a complete…_

"…DOLT! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"

"Yes. Yes she is." I interrupted her rant, and both girls turned to me. Weiss"s ice blue eyes bored a hole in me, but I had to stay strong.

"You know, Snow Angel, if Dust is so volatile, why are you carrying it in unmarked cases? Isn't that a complete breach of safety?"

Weiss said nothing, merely blinked.

"Also, the reason Red Riding Hood here sneezed an explosion was because YOU kept shaking that vial in her face. Another breach of safety. I'd say that you should spend less time scolding nervous girls on their first day at somewhere new, and more time taking proper care of your belongings."

Ruby was silently giggling at my damning words to the ice queen, though Weiss had a furious look in her eyes, almost as if she was trying to kill me on the spot. In a millisecond, she had pulled Myrtenaster from her hip, and thrust the point at my chin. It took all of my mettle to not flinch. Admittedly, I blinked at the maneuver, and tilted my head back to avoid the blade, but that was all.

"You dare suggest that this is _my_ fault?! You think you can just waltz on up and say that sort of thing to me?! You're lucky you're also a Beacon student, or I would cut you down where you stand!" she yelled. I unfolded my arms, and flicked my wrists, unsheathing the dual swords of my gauntlets and holding them up in an intimidating way, doing my best not to look scared, and impossibly succeeding.

"Try it, _princess._" I sneered. But at those words, a soft *ahem* silenced us both. With both of our heads turning at once to the offending interrupter, we found her to be a black-haired girl, taller that Weiss by a fair margin, and only a few centimeters on me, though her black heels assisted in her height. Wearing a black waistcoat and a white undershirt, what struck us was the black bow. After a few seconds, a soundless word escaped my lips.

_Blake…_

"It's heiress, actually. Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." Blake explained to the three of us. Weiss, putting Myrtenaster away, replaced the furious look on her face with one of smugness. Clearly, one of Weiss's hobbies was having her enormous ego stroked.

"Finally, some recognition!"

_You"d get more of it, if you"d stop acting like you"re so superior, _I thought to myself.

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and _questionable_ business partners." Blake finished. Weiss's face changed again, back to the furious. I swear, the girl was an emotional revolving door. As she sputtered to the recent arrival, she snatched the vial of Dust from her hand and stormed off.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" Ruby called after the departing heiress, forgotten until now. As I watched her depart, Blake slapped me on the head.

"You can't just unveil weapons around the school like that. You'll end up causing trouble." I rubbed my stinging head, right underneath the bandanna I was wearing. As I turned to her, she was already departing. Ruby came up to me, and grabbed my hand, shaking it.

"Thanks. You didn't have to do that." She said warmly. I just shrugged.

"Eh, it just felt like the right thing to do." I looked back at where the heiress had departed, then turned back to Ruby.

"My name's Darrel. Darrel Conway."

"Ruby."

As we turned to walk, I literally bumped into Jaune, who was still looking a little green around the gills.

"Hey, aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?" Ruby asked. Jaune looked down at his sneakers, embarrassed.

* * *

"Hey, all I"m saying is, motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!"

Since Jaune had joined Ruby and I, we had to ask why he had puked on the ship. Apparently, Jaune suffered from minor motion sickness, and it was worse when he was in a plane. I sympathized: my brother had delayed a flight because he had been through a panic attack about 15 minutes before takeoff.

"I'm sorry, Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind!" Ruby said.

"Oh, yeah? Well, what if I called you 'Crater Face'?" Jaune retorted, a look of faux annoyance on his face.

"Hey, that explosion wasn't her fault!" I defended.

"Well, anyway, the name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it."

I snickered.

"Do they?" Ruby asked skeptically.

"They will! Well, I-I hope they will. My mom always said…" He trailed off, and then let out a sigh.

"Never mind."

Ruby giggled at Jaune"s awkwardness, and reached for Crescent Rose.

"So yeah. I got this." She offered, unfolding her massive scythe and planting the blade into the ground, millimeters from my foot. I jumped away, and clutched at it in shock.

"Woah! Is that a scythe?!" Jaune asked, awestruck. I, in the meantime, was checking to see if any of my toes had survived the inadvertent attack. Thankfully, they had.

"It's also a customizable, high-impact, sniper rifle!" Ruby hoisted the scythe into her hands.

"A-wha?" Jaune looked confused. I tapped him on the shoulder, and he looked at me.

"It's also a gun, dipstick." I said, a smile on my face.

"Oh." He said, then turning back to Ruby, he flashed a thumbs up.

"That's cool!"

"So what do you two have?"

I motioned to Jaune deciding to let him go first. After seeing our weapons, he"d probably feel bad that his wasn"t as cool. He pulled out his longsword, and grasped his sheath.

"I got this sword!"

Ruby looked at it with interest, curious as to what it could do. Jaune smirked.

"Yeah, and I got a shield too!" Jaune"s scabbard unfolded, transforming into a kite shield, emblazoned with two crescents. I could tell Ruby was excited to see more weapons.

"So… what do they do?" Ruby asked, touching the shield in curiosity, causing it to spring shut, to Jaune's surprise. As he fumbled with his weapon, trying to get a good grip on it, I stepped back, not wanting to make the problem worse. Finally, Jaune managed to get the malfunctioning weapon under control, and attached it to his belt, along with his sword stashed inside.

"Well, you could probably guess, but the shield gets smaller, so when I get tired of carrying it, I can just... put it away..." He trailed off, clearly thinking that it wasn't that impressive in comparison.

"But wouldn't it weigh the same?" Ruby asked. Before Jaune could answer, I spoke up.

"Actually, it"d be even heavier, because it would be denser." I explained. Jaune gave me a sad look, and I shut up. Ruby turned to me.

"So, Darrel. What do you got?" she asked a smile on my face. I shrugged, and flicked my wrists for the third time that day, unsheathing the dual swords.

"I got this. It's not much, but it's something." I explained. Flicking my wrists again, they formed into pincers. Ruby"s face lit up, recognizing the weapon.

"Wait, I've heard of that! That's an Iridescent Basilisk! They're really rare. How'd you get that?" she asked curiously.

Uh-oh. I was afraid of this. The backstory. I began to panic internally.

_Calm down, calm down. You can do this._ I reassured myself. Then I opened my mouth, and began to spin a tale. Dad had given me this weapon soon after I'd applied for Beacon, and told me to train with it.

"Wow. Where"d he get that?" Jaune asked.

"Sometimes, I've found it best not to ask." I stated.

"You know, there's a third function to them. Here, let me show you." Ruby then grabbed my arm, and pulled the protruding device back. Immediately, the pincers folded back a little bit, and a beam of energy encompassed the ends of the blades, forming a string of light leading to the gauntlet. A beam of energy shone from a groove in the center of the weapon, and what appeared to be an arrow formed.

Apparently, I had swords, pincers, and crossbows. This, I liked. I smiled at Ruby.

"How did you know that? I didn"t know that was possible." I had to know.

"Hehe, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons. I guess I did go a little overboard in making mine."

"Wait, you MADE that?!" Jaune asked incredulously. Ruby nodded.

"Of course! All Signal students forge their own weapons. Didn't you guys make yours?" She asked us. Jaune sighed, whilst I looked over my weapons.

"It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war." Jaune sounded depressed. Probably because his weapons, compared to ours were… well, not the coolest.

"Like I said, Dad just gave me these. I don't know if he made them or not." I shrugged, still building up on the lie.

"Yours sounds more like a family heirloom to me, Jaune! Well, I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days." Ruby said, honestly. Not just to cheer Jaune up, but because she actually seemed to like Crocea Mors. The blonde warrior, however, wasn"t so convinced.

"Yeah, the classics…"

Ruby turned to me, and gestured to my gauntlets.

"And I gotta say, you're really lucky, getting such a cool weapon like that! Your Dad seems like a nice person!" Ruby said.

At that, I felt a pang in my heart. I remembered the argument we had had, right before I was forced into this world. For all I knew, time could be passing faster, and he would have died before I even made it back to apologize. A tear threatened to escape my eyeball, but I managed to blink it away before Ruby noticed.

"…help me out?"

I shook my head, releasing myself from my daydream.

"Sorry?"

"I said, why'd you help me out back there?"

"Well, why not? My dad always says 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.'" I shrugged. Jaune gasped at my words.

"You too?! My mom says the same thing!" Jaune raised his hand, and I slapped it for a high-five.

"Hey, where are we going?" Ruby asked.

"Uhh, I dunno. I was following you! Jaune replied. Both of them turned to me, and I raised my arms defensively.

"Whoa, don't look at me! I just got here!" I blurted out.

"Oh. Do you think there"s a directory? Maybe a food court? Something like that?"

As Jaune and Ruby continued to talk, I lolled behind, looking at the rippling water, and seeing my reflection. A part of me wanted to go home, but I kept thinking about how quickly I had made friends here. In the end, I really didn't know what to do anymore. But I was certain of one thing.

"I think I'm going to like it here…"

* * *

**Yeah, one of the things that irked me was Weiss not getting a proper punishment for her chewing out Ruby when the sneeze _WAS ENTIRELY HER FAULT TO BEGIN WITH!_**

**Anyway, for those curious about what Darrel's weapon looks like, go and search deviantART, type in Iridescent Basilisk, and you"ll see it as the first result.**

**Someday I hope to have a cosplay of Darrel Conway up, but for now, I"ll let you just work out the weapon.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Good _GOD_, this one took a while. Was suffering from a minor case of writers block.**

**That, and I"ve busted a few of my knuckles while I was bare-knuckling at PT the other day. That"s really limited my mojo for writing.**

**Anyway, here is the belated Chapter 6! Better go and grab the popcorn, it"s a long one.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: And If You Look To Your Left...**

After a few minutes of searching, the three of us finally managed to find where we were supposed to go: the ampitheatre. As we walked in under the arches, I could tell that the place was crowded with students. It reminded me very much of the Great Hall in the Harry Potter books. People were talking; fidgeting, even playing games on what I think were scrolls. Amidst all the chatter, we heard a voice from the third row call out to Ruby.

"Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!" A blonde girl was waving to Ruby, beckoning her over. Immediately, I recognized her as Yang Xiao Long, the boisterous bruiser of team RWBY. Though I had to say… she was beautiful. With long flowing hair, and her outfit, she was truly a sight to behold in the flesh.

"Hey, guys, I gotta go! I'll see you two after the ceremony!" Ruby bid Jaune goodbye, and dashed off to her sister. Jaune raised his arm after her.

"Hey, wait!" He yelled, but Ruby was long gone. He sighed sadly, and hung his head, turning to me.

"You won't ditch me, though, right?" His pleading eyes begged me to stay with him. I didn't really know what to do, so I just shrugged, and chased after Ruby, curious to hear her conversation with her sister. As I left, I heard Jaune lament.

"Great. Where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?" As he moved into the crowd, I could have sworn I saw a flash of red, but I dismissed it. As I maneuvered through the crowd, I soon had a clear earshot of Yang and Ruby, as they discussed something.

"No, I _literally _exploded a hole in front of the school! And there was some fire… And, I think some ice…?"

Yang leaned towards Ruby, a broad smile on her face.

"Are you being sarcastic?" Yang seemed to be playing dumb, almost as if she knew that Ruby was hiding something. Ruby scoffed.

"I wish! I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage, then she yelled at me. And then I sneezed, then I _exploded_, and I felt really bad, but this nice boy helped me out, giving the crabby girl some lecture about Dust maintenance..."

Oh great. I forgot about this. Causality, the butterfly effect. If I screwed up the plot too much… well, a lot of bad stuff could happen. But so far, nothing too bad had happened. Yet. So far, all that had changed was Ruby mentioning…

"**YOU!**"

INHERMONOLOGUE! Weiss's outburst had caught me off guard, causing me to topple over in shock, hitting the ground with a crash.

"OH GOD, IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN!" Apparently, I wasn't the only one startled by Weiss: Ruby had leaped into Yang's arms, a la Scooby-Doo, and was practically strangling her with her death grip around her neck. Unfortunately, while the sisters were distracted, Weiss had noticed my tumble. She marched over, the same look of fury on her face. Failing to make myself look inconspicuous, Weiss grabbed my hair, and pulled back, staring into my eyes.

"YOU TOO?! YOU HAVE SOME NERVE SHOWING YOURSELF IN FRONT OF ME! WERE YOU EAVESDROPPING?!"

I chuckled nervously, but before I could answer, Weiss had ensnared my right ear into a chokehold, dragging me over to Ruby and Yang.

"Owowowowowowow! Watch it, watch it!" I protested, though it fell on deaf ears. Ironic, as I was sure she would tear mine off if she didn't let up. Finally, when I had been planted next to Ruby, she released my ear, and my hand immediately flew up to the lobe, massaging the pain away. She turned to Ruby, who was still entangled in Yang's arms.

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" Weiss scolded her. Yang, who had managed to pry her sister's iron grip loose of her windpipe, turned to her.

"Oh my God, you really exploded." Yang managed to mutter. Ruby stepped back on terra firma, shaking from the shock Weiss had given us.

"It was an accident, I promise! I didn't…" Ruby had started to protest, before she was silenced with a piece of folded paper to her face. Peeling it off, she read the title.

"'Dust for Dummies and Other Inadequate Individuals?' Isn't that a little…"

"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product. AlthoughnotmandatorytheSchneeFamilyhighlyencouragescustomerstoreadandfamiliarizethemselveswiththiseasytofollowguidetoDustapplicationsandpracticesinthefield."

Ruby blinked twice, clearly not understanding. I was about to give her a helping hand, when it was my turn to get smacked in my face, only this time with a hardcover book. As I peeled it off, I glanced at the title, rubbing my slightly crumpled nose in pain.

"'The Schnee Dust Company – A Legend Born from Dust.' What is this, an autobiography?"

"Hardly. Read through it for a while, and you'll see why it is a bad idea to mock me." Weiss snorted. Then she turned to Ruby.

"You really wanna start making things up to me?"

"Absolutely…?"

"Read that, and never speak to me again."

"Yeesh, that's cold. For the last time: It! Was! An! Acci…" Weiss turned back to me, as if daring me to finish. With her fingers clasped around Myrtenaster, it would be a wise choice to shut up, read the book, and not to piss her off ever again.

Yang placed herself between Weiss and me, holding her hands to our chests so as to prevent any further conflict. Looking down, I saw she was touching my chest. I didn't know if it was by accident, but I savored the moment.

"Look, it just sounds like the three of you just got off on the wrong foot. Why don"t you start over?" she suggested, rubbing the back of her head. Ruby leaned out from behind her.

"Great idea, sis! I'll go first." She offered her hand to Weiss.

"Hello, Weiss. I'm Ruby. Wanna hang out? We could go shopping for school supplies?"

Weiss immediately changed her look of fury, to one of girlish excitement.

"Yeah! And we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys, like tall, blonde and… scraggly over there!" She offered, pointing her thumb towards Jaune, who perked up at his mention. I looked back, and furiously waved my hands and shook my head, telling him '_No, no, she doesn't mean it, you idiot!_' He didn't notice me. I wasn't surprised: I could have held up a massive neon sign that said the same thing, and he still wouldn't get the point.

"Wow, really?!" I turned around, to see Ruby's face light up. Weiss, however, had a grim look on her face, still pointing at Jaune.

"NO."

As I was about to interject, the four of us were distracted by a microphone being tapped over a speaker. Ozpin had taken the stage, and he looked as enigmatic as ever. Adjusting his glasses, he began to speak to everyone.

"I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge - to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction."

The students began to whisper amongst themselves, perplexed by Ozpin's choice of words. They had expected a warm welcome, or even a "Congratulations", not this… speech, if it could be called that.

"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

And with that, Ozpin stepped off of the stage. The woman behind him, Glynda Goodwitch, took the microphone.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." Goodwitch told us. Then she disappeared after Ozpin, taking the microphone with her. As other students began to talk about what had been said, others began to leave to explore the area.

"He seemed a little… off." Yang commented. Ruby nodded.

"It's almost like he wasn't even there." She added. In the meantime, Jaune had managed to squirm between Weiss and me, and had turned on the charm.

"I'm a natural blonde, you know."

If there was one thing Weiss and I agreed on, it was whether or not now was the appropriate time to slap our hands against our heads in exasperation. A small step, but a first step nonetheless.

* * *

"Jaune, remind me again where you picked up your charm. I think you need a refund."

In the hallway, Jaune was nursing a red handprint on his cheek, courtesy of Weiss.

"I don't get it! I was sure it would work!" He whimpered in pain, as Ruby dabbed his face with a damp cloth.

"This might sting a little. Keep still." She soothed. As soon as the rag touched his raw skin, Jaune elicited a shrill scream of pain. Covering my ears, Ruby dropped the cloth and followed suit. As the cacophony died down, I looked over at Jaune's injury, which was now nearly invisible with his pale skin. I extended a hand, and he slapped his into mine. Hoisting him up, we began walking down the hallway, now equipped with a map on Jaune's scroll, so we wouldn't get lost again.

"Ooh, is there a training area for weapons?" Ruby asked excitedly. Jaune tapped his scroll, showing that the weapons area was a couple of turns to the ballroom. Seeing as they were so close, we agreed to see the weapons training area first. I had to admit, I was curious as to what other weapons existed in this world.

After some walking, Ruby opened the door, to reveal a room, larger than a warehouse, where one corner had a wrestling-style fighting ring, another had a shooting gallery, the center of the room was laid out in a grid, dotted with little bumps. Given the technology Remnant had, I assumed it was a hologram arena. Ruby tugged my arm, gasping in joy at what she saw. I turned, and my jaw dropped: an entire wall was a dedicated weapons rack, ranging from battle rifle-chainsaws and war hammer-shotguns, to rocket launcher-gauntlets and naginata-muskets. It was amazing to see the diversity of weapons in this world. I was starting to see why Ruby liked seeing weapons rather than making friends.

"Welcome, welcome! I assume you three are new arrivals to this prestigious academy?" A bombastic voice rang out throughout the academy, echoing endlessly. Turning, I saw a man dressed in an orange robe embroidered with golden and white, with his hands hidden inside the sleeves. If anything, he seemed to resemble someone from Turkey I had met a long time ago. His eyes were covered by a bandage, and two scars spiderwebbed on his face seemed to travel through his eyes, so I assumed he was blind.

"Might I be the first welcome you all! This is the weapons quarters, and I am this room's manager and caretaker, Professor Kor! Might I be so inclined to ask for the labels you youngsters refer to each other as?"

The three of us looked at the man confusedly, bamboozled by his manner. Jaune finally stepped forward, shaking nervously, raising his hand.

"Um, hi. I'm Jaune Arc. This is Ruby Rose, and Darrel Conway. We're new students, just exploring." He said, twiddling his thumbs. Professor Kor let out a jolly laugh, and clapped Jaune on the back, sending him sprawling on the ground with a grunt.

"Jaune Arc! I've heard much from that family lineage. Well, Mr. Arc, I'm expecting great things from you, great things indeed!" He chuckled, then turned to Ruby, who had begun to shy away.

"Ms Rose, I presume? You need not be nervous. Professor Ozpin speaks highly of you. He has heard from Professor Qrow about your exploits for some time!" Ruby seemed to cheer up at these words, and smiled. Then out of nowhere, the professor produced an oatmeal cookie. Ruby's silver eyes seemed to grow wider, as she reached for the delicious treat being offered to her.

"Take it, I insist." Ruby blinked, and snatched the cookie, shoveling it into her mouth. It was a sight to see: as soon as it touched her lips, the cookie literally disappeared. Professor Kor laughed again.

"You like it? It's my personal recipe."

Ruby nodded, crumbs falling from her smiling lips.

"Theesh are the besht! Thanksh, Professhor!" She muffled, her mouth full of cookie.

Professor Kor leaned forward, and placed his hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"And remember, if you are having trouble, you can always come here to unburden yourself of any issues you may have. My door is always open, Ruby Rose, so do not hesitate to knock should the need arise." He offered. Ruby nodded enthusiastically.

Finally, Professor Kor turned to me.

"Well, now... You are a strange one. I can't say that I recognize your Aura. Where might you be from? Atlas? Vacuo? Mistral?"

_Uh-oh._

"Uh, I'm not really from anywhere. My family were traveling merchants, we kept moving from place to place."

_Please believe me, please believe me, please believe me..._

Professor Kor scrutinized me intensely me with his bandaged eyes. Then he chuckled.

"A traveler, eh? You must have seen everything under the sun, then! I envy you, my boy!" He laughed.

At that moment, a tone sounded over the speakers, followed by Glynda"s voice.

"_Would all first year students please gather in the ballroom in five minutes. Again, all first year students gather in the ballroom in five minutes._"

Ruby let out a soft groan as she trudged back from the towering weapons rack, while Jaune climbed out of the wrestling ring.

"It was nice meeting you, Professor Kor!" Ruby thanked the professor, who smiled.

"And a pleasure meeting the three of you! Do not hesitate to talk to me again anytime you are in need." Professor Kor waved us away, and disappeared in a flash of his robe.

"He seemed nice." Ruby shrugged, as we began to walk to the ballroom.

Jaune nodded in agreement.

"Top bloke." I chimed it. Ruby and Jaune looked at me, and after a few seconds, I realised my mistake.

"It's a form of praise I heard in Australia." I blurted out. Ruby looked at me suspiciously, while Jaune scratched his head. _Uh-oh, cover's beginning to slip!_

"It's a small island in the south. Not many people know about it, but they like their privacy. Rumor is, they are some of the greatest warriors who have ever lived." I lied.

Ruby nodded in understanding, as did Jaune. Before they asked more questions, I decided to try and get away.

"Well, I gotta dash, guys! See you later!" And before the two could protest, I ran ahead down the hall, cursing myself for being so lenient with my psuedobiography.

* * *

I ran to the ballroom, and quickly hid in the bathrooms. Pulling out my change of clothes, I threw them on: a blue tank top with the design of a snarling Ursa slashing through the fabric, and a pair of black track pants with a golden stripe streaking down the sides. Stepping out, I saw that a lot of other students had changed into PJs, including Ruby. She seemed to be writing in a journal of some kind, though I had the feeling that she had had enough of me for the day. Finding an empty spot was harder than I thought: a lot of the bags were occupied, so I decided to lie in the corner, near the window. As I set up the sleeping bag, I looked up at the cracked moon, and sighed wistfully. Home... would I ever see it again?

*beep* *beep* *beep*

My backpack began to rumble silently. I rifled through it, trying to find the offending source, until my fingers clasped around a crimson scroll. Gripping the sides, I opened it to reveal a woman wearing a crimson dress, her face framed in shadow, and her hair covering her eyes so that I couldn't identify her.

"Hello, Darrel. I've been waiting to see you for a long time, but circumstances permit that we are only limited to this form of communication."

She sounded familiar... But for now, it was time for the millions of questions to be paired with answers.

"Who are you?"

The crimson-clad female shook her head.

"Who I am is not important at this moment in time."

_Well, so much for that. Next question._

"Why am I here?"

"You have been... marked, so to speak. Whether you like it or not, your presence is an unfortunate necessity."

"Why?"

"Remnant and Earth are at risk of complete annihilation, and I am seeking a way to prevent this. Only, I cannot do it alone. You are going to help me prevent this cataclysm. And when your purpose is complete, you will be sent home with no memory of your time here."

I processed this. A way home? But only if I help this woman I know nothing about? Something seemed off here. But I thought of Dad, and my brother. They must be worried sick about me. In the end, I didn't know what to do.

"You have a choice. I'll let you think about it. But it would be wise to cooperate, Darrel. As cliché as it sounds, you may be the only one who can stop this." She said. And with that, the image was replaced with static. Folding the scroll back up, I contemplated the recent info dump. She was charismatic, I'll give her that, but something burned in my gut, telling me not to trust her.

"OH NOT YOU AGAIN!"

Looking up at the harmonious yell, I saw that all four members of Team RWBY had gathered. I slipped the scroll into my backpack, and lay down, hoping no one had noticed my secret conversation. As the fight continued, I saw Blake pick up the nearby candelabra and blow out the candles, bathing the area in darkness.

"Ruby, Yang, it was a pleasure meeting you. I'll see you later." She said as she walked away to her sleeping bag.

"I'm sorry, Weiss. I didn't mean to wake you up." Ruby apologized, but Weiss held up her hand.

"Don't bother, you dunce. Just be more careful!" She lectured Ruby, then stormed off. Yang wrapped her arm around Ruby"s shoulder.

"Don't worry about her, Ruby. Like I said, two friends, one enemy. It's still an increase." She consoled. Ruby brushed her arm loose, and turned to her.

"Enemies are worth double, Yang. I'm still at zero." She said sadly, trudging back to her sleeping bag. Lying down, she pulled the sleep mask over her eyes and was quietly snoring. Yang looked at her, a small frown encompassing her lips, then for some reason, her eyes wandered over to me. As she walked over, she started to smile softly. Standing over me, she prodded me with her toe.

"Hey, I know you're awake. You wanna talk?" She asked.

I looked up, seeing Yang look me over. I sat up and leaned my back against the wall.

"Why not? I can't seem get to sleep." I offered, and patted the area next to me. Yang leaned against the one I was leaning on, sliding down so she was sitting.

"So, you're Darrel, huh? Name's Yang. I"m Ruby's sister." She extended a hand, and I shook it.

"Nice to meet you, Yang." I said nervously.

"You know, you don't have to sleep here. There's an empty bag next to me. If you want, you're welcome to it." She offered. I was confused.

"Wait, why me? Why not Jaune?" I asked.

"Well, uh, you're here alone, and the moon"ll keep you awake. C'mon." Before I could respond, Yang had hoisted me up to my feet and shoved my backpack in my hands. Then without a word, she walked back to her bag. I shrugged and followed suit, laying my bag beside Yang's pillow. As I slid into the warm receptacle of the sleeping bag, I heard Yang ask me something, but I didn't know what.

"Sorry?"

"I said, do you snore?" She asked, yawning.

"Uh, yeah. It's not so much of an issue, but it can happen sometimes." I answered ashamedly. But to my surprise, Yang flashed me a thumbs up.

"Good. Ruby says I snore loud and wake her up. It'll be nice to pin the blame on someone else for a change." She whispered, flashing me a wink. Then she rolled over, and moved no more.

I rolled away, and thought about today. Ozpin's speech kept playing through my mind. It had to have some meaning, but it was difficult picking it up. And that woman… what did she really want? Things just aren't adding up anymore. But there wasn't any point figuring it out, because some time later, my eyes closed, and I fell into a pleasant dream.

* * *

**Well, this is getting interesting...**

**And, for those curious, Professor Kor is based off of the Indian tale 'The Blind Men and The Elephant.' Also, big thanks to RWBYForums for the help in naming and designing him.**

**Anyway, next chapter won't be out for a while. Right now, I'm a little focused on getting back to TAFE, so, yes, there will be some more delays.**

**Also, one more thing: This story has nearly 1,000 views in total! I had no idea I would be THIS popular!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Alright, now that the heatwave is finally over, and the sidewalks are no longer capable of frying eggs, I can finally get back to writing. Keep in mind I'm not quite at 100%: extreme heat makes me feel tired, and a week's worth of it is seriously screwing with me. So updating will be a bit faster, but not as fast as it used to be. So if you're a little irritated about it, you"ll have to endure it for a moment longer whilst I get back up to speed.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Nightmares All Around**

_As my eyes fluttered open, I became aware of a hot, wet wind breathing heavily against my right ear, right where Yang should be. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, expecting to see Yang breathing in my face. Instead, I came face to face with a Beowolf, sniffing me, checking to see if I was a worthy meal. I screamed, and punched the beast in the snout, causing it to recoil. It spun around, and landed in a crouch, its claws tearing into the carpet. As it slowed, it lunged forward, charging at me on all fours. I rolled out of the way, reaching for a weapon, something to kill with. That was when my fingers closed around the exposed rebar in the wall, tearing it out like a twig from a branch._

_The Beowolf galloped towards me. Closer and closer, until I could see the primal, animalistic hatred in its blood-red eyes. It leapt, claws outstretched, snarling through a slobbering maw. Now was the time: I swung the rebar straight into the monster's head, a chunk of stone bludgeoning the monster and crushing it's skull to powder. As it sprawled on the floor, whimpering as Death's embrace took it over, I walked up to it, and continued to bludgeon its corpse, unsatisfied with the thought of it being dead._

_"Enough!" A voice yelled, after the fifth impact, and a hand clasped my wrist, halting my desecration of the monster's corpse. I turn, and was met with a familiar face: the woman who had given me the crystal back on the beach._

_"Can you not see the beast has been killed?" She said plainly, gesturing to the abomination. I looked back: the Beowolf was a mess of broken bone, fur, and blood. Turning to the woman, she gestured to a broken window, showing the flame orange sky outside. I ran to the frame, and saw that Beacon, Vale, the world, was ending. Embers dotted the path, and the outlying forests had been set ablaze. Trees were stripped from the ground, the mangled fuselages of Bullheads and airships were sporadically spread across the town of Vale, sticking from the ground like pieces of old bones._

_"What is this?" I asked to no one in particular. The woman wrapped her arm around my shoulder._

_"This," she said, gesturing to the view._

_"...is the Reckoning. An ancient inevitability since the dawn of man. The Creatures of Grimm will amass, and unleash a collective fury unto the world, plunging it into a pit of hopelessness, despair, and death. Blood will be spilled, crops will be devastated, the lights of hope will cease. At the center of it all..." She paused, as if contemplating._

_"You will be the spark. The catalyst that will sets this in motion."_

_What? _I'm _the one who'll bring about this destruction?!_

_"That's impossible. I can't be..." I was silenced with a finger pressing against my lips. The woman was shouting angrily now._

_"You wield a pair of Iridescent Basilisks, you have seen a wall of weapons which cannot possibly exist in your dimension, and you have talked to people who slay monsters on a regular basis! Do not tell me what is impossible!"_

_I look back at the apocalyptic view in front of me. The woman has a point. The world of RWBY shouldn't be possible, and here I stand, smack dab in the middle. I look back at the woman, to find her gone. Looking around, she is nowhere to be seen, like she has vanished into thin air._

_"YOU BASTARDS STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"_

_The shout diverted my attention back to the courtyard. From what I could see, a pack of Ursi Majors were converging on a young girl. From the blonde hair, it was Yang, pumping her arms, flinging round after fiery round into the monsters, with no effect. They roared, and continued to advance._

_Immediately, without any hesitation, I leapt out the window, armed with nothing more than a metal bar. I remembered that we were some ways up on the third floor, but I didn't care. After falling for what seemed like an eternity, I hit the ground, rolling into a standing position. Thank God I had learned parkour. Admittedly, most of it was taken from movies and games, but I had practiced: I knew the basics, how to land and whatnot._

_Letting out a yell, I charged at one of the Ursa, swinging my 'weapon' like a madman. But just as I reached them, I rebounded off of some kind of invisible surface, catapulting backwards into a smoldering tree, causing it to explode in a rain of splinters, embers, and ash. Brushing myself off, I stood, and charged again, hoping to break through this wall. The end result was the same: I was sent flying back, landing hard on the pavement. Tasting something bitter in my mouth, I quickly spat out a blob of blood. This time, I just sprinted up to the wall, and began pounding it with my bare hands. As it began to stain red, I screamed, helplessly impacting the wall with a pair of bloodied fists, desperate to break through._

_Through the cloud of blood, I watched Yang kill one Ursa, only for it to be replaced by two more. She was panting, and the Ursa were beginning to swarm her. She pumped her arms, firing two more shots at the monstrosities. As she pumped a third time, nothing happened. She pumped again, nothing. Either Ember Celica had run out of ammo, or Yang's Aura was spent. The Ursa were on her in an instant, biting, ripping, and tearing. I screamed again, unheard by anyone. Yang emerged from the crowd of Ursi, bloodied, beaten, and her hair savaged. Were it not for her natural resilience, she would be dead. She came up to me, and began beating on the wall, as if screaming for help. It was as if... she couldn't see me. As she began to slip away, the wall finally broke down, and Yang fell forward, her eyes rolling up and staring far, far away. I tried to catch her, but as my arms closed around her, she dissolved, into a wisp of black smoke. I looked at my arms instinctively, tears wallowing in my eyes. I fell to my knees, and rested my head against a nearby flagpole, and began to sob._

_"You see?"_

_I didn't move, just kept resting my head against its roost, and letting the tears flow. The woman from before, the one who had lectured me in the ballroom, placed her hand on my shoulder, and rubbed my heaving body, in rhythm with my sobs._

_"This is inevitable. But should you follow my guidance, and no one else's, we may yet prevent this from happening. But in the meantime..."_

_She spun me around, and I saw she was holding a knife. Before I could react, she had buried it in my stomach, underneath my sternum. As I fell, an indecipherable look flashed across her face. Was it fear? Pity? Disgust? All three?_

_"Do not hate me, Darrel Conway. For this is the only way to ensure the message sinks in."_

* * *

As my eyes snapped open, I launched into a sitting position, feeling hot and cold, sweaty, and panting. Looking around, I was back in the ballroom, though it was still in pristine condition. I looked around, everyone was still lying down, clearly asleep. Soft rumbles emanated from Yang's mouth. She wasn't kidding about her snoring: it sounded like a hibernating bear. As I was now fully awake, I decided to try and get some fresh air, see if I could lull myself back to sleep with a warm breeze.

I kicked myself out of my sleeping bag, and stood up, being careful not to step on a sleeping student. Tiptoeing, I silently made my way to the door, looking at my feet, seeing if a sleeping initiate's wayward arm would present an obstacle. Luckily, it didn't. As my fingers wrapped around the handle, I twisted, opening the door with a soft creak. I found myself on a balcony of some kind: overlooking what I assumed to be the town of Vale. Shutting the door, I strode to the railing, leaning against it, and taking in the fresh, cool air.

I looked to the stars, thinking about what I had been told. The woman who had called me via scroll had said that Earth and Remnant would be doomed to destruction, and that she needed my help to prevent it, while the woman with the white lion ears had said that _I_ would bring about this apocalypse. Two conflicting reports, but there had to be some kind of truth to this. But with two pieces of the puzzle, each a contradiction, I couldn't work it out. I hung my head in my hands, frustrated with everything that was going on.

"Argh, why is this so difficult?!" I shouted to no one in particular.

"Whoa, geez. No need to let the world know, Darrel."

Turning around, I saw someone standing behind me, their face hidden in shadow. I squinted, trying to see through the darkness. The person stepped out into the moonlight to reveal...

Jaune in his bunny slippers onesie. Resisting the urge to laugh at his choice of sleep attire, I waved a hand, beckoning him over. He complied and rested against the balcony, head resting on his arms.

"It's a beautiful place, isn't it?" I asked. Jaune stood up straight, looking at the pool of lights far beyond.

"Yeah, it kind of is. Though I grew up seeing this sort of view from my bedroom, so I can't really judge." He sighed. I could ask about his family, what kind of warriors he was descended from, but that would probably make him feel even more insecure. Instead, I'd have to play this smart.

"Jaune? What are your parents like?"

Jaune looked up, his deep blue eyes penetrating me. He inhaled.

"My dad was a Huntsman a long time ago. He's retired on account of a missing leg, but he can still handle himself pretty well. Mom, though... She was, how do I put this?" He rambled, thinking of an appropriate word.

"She was a little overbearing. If I got a scratched knee, she'd flip out, treat it like I'd been impaled. She refused to let me pick up a weapon, until I was sixteen." He continued.

"Ah, okay. Just curious." I said. We looked to the moon, currently in its 3/4 stage, the cracked side facing us. I was always curious about the moon, but at this point, it'd be prudent to ask about something more important. But what exactly?

"Hey, Darrel? Why exactly are you out here?" Jaune asked. I sighed, and looked at him.

"I had… I guess it was a nightmare. Plus, I don't get back to sleep easily, so I decided to get some air." I replied. Jaune looked worried.

"A nightmare? What was it about?" He asked, curious and worried at the same time. I let out a rush of air from my nose, and pinched the bridge.

"I don't know. All I saw was flashes. I think. I don't really want to talk about it." I brushed off the question quickly: I had seen everything: the Beowolf attacking me, my discussion with that Faunus woman, Yang disappearing in a puff of smoke, and getting stabbed in the gut. Jaune shrugged.

"Okay, fair enough. I needed the bathroom, and I saw you leaving." He said. As the awkward silence continued, we heard the door open. Turning, we saw a pair of golden eyes glinting in the darkness. They moved forward, revealing Blake stepping out from the shadows. She was still wearing her bow, though I decided not to comment.

"Darrel? Jaune?" She asked. We nodded. She motioned back to the door.

"Ruby's having problems. Yang wants you two to help her calm down." She said quickly. Jaune looked at me, and I looked at him. Nodding simultaneously, we dashed back to the door, to see Yang trying to restrain a thrashing Ruby. We ran over, careful not to wake up anyone else. Yang turned to us, her face marred with pleading worry.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Yang's violet eyes swiveled to me.

"Ruby has night terrors sometimes. Usually, they're not bad, but I can't keep her under control this time." She whispered, a fearful undertone in her voice. Immediately, I grabbed Ruby's wrist, trying to prevent her from hurting someone. Her spasms were strong though, and I quickly lost my grip, her skinny wrist slipping from my fingers. Jaune tried to help, but ended up getting hit in the nose by a stray foot. He went down, clutching his aching nose and groaning nasally in pain.

While Jaune was out of the way, I managed to grip Ruby's hand again, pinning it to the ground. She tried to resist, but I wasn't about to let a friend suffer like this. Yang leapt onto her, shaking Ruby by the shoulders, while she sobbed something unintelligible, though I did manage to get snippets of it.

"_mom…don"t…leave…help…_"

"Ruby! Ruby, wake up! Please wake up!" Yang quietly begged, a tear threatening to escape her right eye. Ruby moaned, and threw her off like she didn't weigh more than a scrap of paper. She broke free of my grip once again, and sat up in her bag. I began to worry: if this kept up, she could hurt someone, even herself. So I did the one thing that I never thought I'd do.

I hugged her, and began to chant a safety mantra in her ear.

"You're safe, Ruby. You're alright. Please, calm down. We're here for you."

She struggled, to start. Like a cat that doesn't like being picked up. I felt a pain in my shin, as she kicked the tibia within, sending a searing pain up my leg. But even with the pain, I refused to let her go, trying to get her to calm down. Finally, her struggles began to weaken, to the point where they were just twitches. I smiled inwardly, grateful that I had managed to calm Ruby down. As I looked down into her face, buried in the chest of my pajamas, staining the Ursa design with mucus and tears, her head rolled back, and her silver eyes opened, locking into mine.

"Yang? Is that you?" She asked sleepily, tears still streaming down her face. I shook my head, and smiled at her.

"No, it's Darrel. You were having a night terror." I soothed, stroking her hair. I let her go, and she immediately flopped back onto her bag, panting heavily. Yang knelt beside her, stroking her forehead.

"You're okay, Ruby. Just don't think about it. Go back to sleep." Yang smiled, her cheek glistening with a tear. Ruby nodded, and shut her eyes. And with that, Yang looked back to me, smiling happily.

"Thank you, Darrel. She doesn't usually get like that. I gotta say, though, how'd you know that"d work?" She asked. I just shrugged.

"To tell the truth, Yang, I didn't." I whispered. As the tear continued to travel down Yang's cheek, I extended a finger, and brushed it off of Yang's face. She smiled again, and right then, the illusion was shattered: Yang wasn't just a brawler.

"Thanks, Darrel. I'll see you in the morning." She whispered, getting to her feet, and slipping into her sleeping bag. Within seconds, she was out like a light. I admired her for a moment longer: God, was she beautiful.

"Owwww…"

Turning around, I saw Jaune was still clutching his nose, clearly still aching. I walked over to him, and tried to pull his hands away. He whimpered as I looked his nose over: it was a little bent, and a small gash had been nicked across the bridge, but the bleeding was minimal.

"You're okay. It's just a scratch, Jaune. It'll be back to normal by morning." I reassured. Jaune nodded softly, still sniveling, and trotted back to his sleeping bag. I watched him go, and I trudged back to mine. Yawning, I decided that now was the perfect time to get back to sleep. Slipping into the bag, I looked back on the night's events, how they would have panned out had I not been here. Jaune probably wouldn't have been injured, Yang wouldn't have been able to pacify Ruby… who knows? I guess until I get home, I should try to make the world a better place. But in the meantime, I let sleep overtake me, and I finally rested for the first time in three days.

* * *

**Well, not the greatest. But still worth something. Anyway, Chapter 8 is a small ways away, so please be patient.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Ah, writer's block. Why dost thou detest me so?**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Nose Against The Grindstone**

The following morning, Yang gently shook me awake, nearly startling me when I woke up. I trudged to the changing rooms, which were filled with well built teenage boys slipping out of pyjamas, and pulling on tunics and pieces of armour. Yawning, I grabbed my locker handle, letting my backpack succumb to gravity, and tumbling to the ground, spilling the clothes I wore yesterday, a uniform, and the scroll that woman framed in shadow had contacted me on. Pulling it open, I checked to see if there were any more messages. There weren't. Since I had a moment free, I began to access the tablet, seeing what was available for use.

I knew from the web series that scrolls were capable of gauging Aura levels, monitoring surveillance, taking audio and text messages, and browsing the Internet, or at least, it's equivalent. Looking through, I saw that some basic games were preinstalled, such as Sudoku, Taijitu (a game that was functionally identical to Snake from back home), and StarSweeper (a rail-shooter game, set on Remnant's moon). Other features included voice recording, note taking, and combat analysis and tutorials.

Closing the scroll, and shoving it deep into the bag, I felt something scrape my hand. Releasing my grip on the scroll, and grasping the object, I pulled it out. It was the crystal that woman had given me, when I was on the beach back home. Glancing it over, I watched as it's colors continued to fade into the next. Curious, I unconsciously rubbed it with my fingers, trying to find a blemish of some kind. As my fingertips caught a small groove, on the side of the crystal, I turned it, looking at the scratch. It was difficult to make out, but I managed to identify tiny carvings, almost microscopic.

A bunch of symbols. Nothing like I'd ever seen before. A fang. A drop. Two circles connected by a small line. Clearly, it had to have some hidden meaning, but whatever it was, I couldn't hope to decipher it. Clasping my fingers around the crystal, I shoved it back in my bag, in a pocket where it couldn't be seen. Grabbing my combat clothes, and my rucksack, I dashed to a free shower, and let the hot water drum on my bare skin, washing away the worries of the previous night. Showers back home were good, but this was heaven.

Eventually, the water stopped, and I toweled off, haphazardly throwing on clothes, and tying the bandana underneath my fringe. Moving to the cafeteria, en route, I passed by a teenager who was two heads taller than me. He had a mace at his hip, and was covered in full body armor, much like a knight from medieval times. Brown hair, indigo eyes, and a cocky grin dotted his face. It was the last thing I saw, before my foot caught on his very conveniently placed leg, sending me sprawling.

"Hold on, sweetheart. Isn't the girls room that way?" He asked in a slimy tone. Getting on my hands and knees, the giant knight, also known as Cardin Winchester placed a steel boot on my spine, pinning me to the ground.

"Not so fast, kid. I'm not letting you get away that easy. Not until you tell me your name." He chuckled, pressing hard on my back, threatening to break my spine. I couldn't see how I could get up, so I began to struggle. All that I gained was a firm hand on the back of my neck, squeezing on the blood vessels placed there. Teetering on the verge of unconsciousness, my thrashes grew weaker.

"Get... off!" I breathed weakly. Cardin just laughed.

"What was that? 'Keep going?' Well, if you insist..."

And with a cruel snicker, his grip became like iron, making my head swim, and causing my vision to cloud. I'd dealt with bullies before, but Cardin... There was no way I could go up against him and live. Not without Aura, or knowledge of my weapons, neither of which I possessed. As I gasped in pain, I heard a man yelling.

"Hey! Get off of him this instant, young man!" A familiar voice boomed. As I looked up from the stone cold floor, I saw Professor Kor standing there through my blurry vision. He had his hands on his hips, and was scowling furiously at my tormenter. At that moment, Cardin's grip weakened, and his hand gripped the back of my tunic, hoisting me to my feet, already adding to my dizziness.

"Oh, this guy just had a sore spot on his back, asked me to help elevate the pain." Cardin grinned. Professor Kor shook his head.

"I pray that you mean 'alleviate'."

"That's what I said!" He defended angrily. And with a huff, he walked out of the locker room, leaving me leaning against the wall, trying not to pass out from dizziness. Professor Kor walked up to me, and held a cookie in his hands.

"Take it. It should help." He offered, shoving the cookie in my hands. Without thinking, I shoved it in my mouth, chomping like a car crusher. Immediately, a wave of peace washed over me, dulling the ache in my neck. The dizziness quickly subsided, and I shook my head, still feeling a bit lightheaded. Professor Kor grabbed my shoulders, and held me steady.

"You alright, Darrel?" He asked. I nodded.

"Y-yeah, I'm-I'm fine." I gasped. The Professor patted my shoulder, handed me my bag, and spun me around, pushing me into the cafeteria. Stumbling past various people eating breakfast, a red-haired girl, looking very much like a Spartan munched on an apple, a green-garbed Chinese boy sliced through his pancakes with the vigor of a sloth, while the apricot-haired girl was literally slurping up her pancakes as if she hadn't eaten food in months. I shook my head, grabbed a plate of cereal, and walked between the tables, desperate to sit somewhere hygienic.

"Hey, Darrel! Over here!"

Even through the cacophony of raised voices, which was giving me a headache, Ruby's voice pierced them all. I looked to source to see Ruby and Jaune sitting at a table together. Ruby had a plate of cookies (natch), and Jaune had a tray of toast. There was a third bowl, loaded with porridge, but I decided not to comment on whose it was. I had a sneaking suspicion, anyway. Sitting across from the bowl of steaming porridge, I tiredly regarded Jaune and Ruby. Jaune's nose had more or less regained it's shape, and the small graze he'd received was virtually indistinguishable.

"Morning, Darrel! Sleep well?" Ruby asked. I shook my head, still feeling the effects of Cardin's attempted murder and Professor Kor's cookie. The result was a chronic tiredness, one that threatened to make me fall face first in my cereal, asleep, dreaming, and drowning.

"You okay? You didn't have another nightmare, did you?" Jaune asked, rubbing my shoulder. I yawned, looked up, and glanced into Jaune's deep blue eyes.

"Nah, just..." I stopped. Things could get bad if Cardin was introduced too early, and I'd promised myself to make things better, not worsen them because of some personal vendetta.

"Just had trouble staying asleep." I lied. But Ruby shot me a dirty look.

"You know, that big guy who had a death grip on your neck was out of line."

_Oh hell._

"You don't have to take that. We're here for you, all three of us: Me, Jaune and Yang'd help you anytime. All you have to do is ask." Ruby consoled, shoving a cookie in her mouth. Jaune nodded in agreement. I smiled, thankful that if if I was trapped in the world of RWBY, at least I'd have some company. I placed a spoonful of cereal in my mouth, and tasted a kind of bran, along with a hint of... marshmallow? As I contemplated the taste, a hand clapped my shoulder, causing me to yelp, and subsequently swallow unexpectedly, the mushy cereal in my mouth falling down my windpipe.

"Morning, Darrel!" A familiar voice. One that belonged to a certain boisterous bruiser. I gagged, trying to cough up what I had accidentally inhaled. After a bit of pounding on the chest, I leaned back, and tried to get my breath back. Looking into Yang's violet eyes, I was still coughing up bits of food into my mouth.

"Mor-morning, Yang." I breathed, still feeling the effects of choking on the cereal. Yang removed her hand, and effortlessly vaulted over the table. She landed perfectly in the seat behind the bowl of porridge, and began to dig in.

"Sho, Ruby, what's da sich?" Yang asked, a quarter of the bowl's contents still contained in her mouth, and much of the rest giving her a beige beard that rivaled Junior's. Ruby grinned: apparently eating habits between the two sisters were identical.

"Well, Darrel was just attacked by some big jerk, but the Professor we met last night helped him." Ruby answered. Yang looked at me.

"You get a look of the guys face, that sort of thing? He could have a little... 'accident' in the forest." Yang offered, a creepy grin on her face. I raised my hands, and began to wildly shake my head. Cardin was a douche, yes, and I did want to get back at him for nearly popping my head off, but it wouldn't be just yet. Not until I figure some things out.

"Ah, well. Had to offer." Yang shrugged, then returned to wolfing down the porridge like the Reckoning was happening this very moment. Kicking my legs vacantly, I felt my foot strike my rucksack. Somehow, the crystal slipped out, and landed on the toe of my boot. Reaching down, I picked it up, and discreetly began to study the symbols engraved on it. Looking up, Jaune was munching on a slice of toast, while Yang was talking with Ruby. And at that moment, a voice, the same one used by that Faunus woman in my nightmare.

**Tell them. They will help.**

I cleared my throat, and all three pairs of eyes, violet, silver, and deep blue, focused on me. At that moment, everything I knew was about to change.

"You guys know that my dad was a traveller? Well, when I was young, before he gave me my weapons, I remember him giving me this."

I placed the crystal on the table, and the focus changed from me to the small object.

"He said that it would be the key to salvation, or something. But I don't even know what it is. You guys ever seen something like this?"

Jaune picked up the crystal, twirling it in his fingers, eyes agog at the transitioning colours. He ran his fingers over the chips and carvings.

"I don't know what this is, but it seems like they're runes of some kind. Maybe it's a piece of a puzzle?"

Yang quickly snatched the crystal out of Jaune's hands, and began to scrutinize it. Ruby looked at if from over her sister's shoulder.

"Please. Those kinds of things only happen in movies, Jaune. Maybe it's some form of code. Like a hidden message." Yang rebuffed.

"Either that or maybe it's the owner's name." She offered. I quickly snatched the crystal back, and shoved it into my pocket.

"It doesn't matter. I'm going to get ready." I said, pushing the forgotten bowl of cereal away, and trudging to the lockers. My fingers clasped around the crystal hidden in my pocket. Thinking back to what Jaune and Yang had said, those carvings could be anything. But right now, I had to get ready for initiation.

But my memory was a little rusty at this point, most likely due to my tiredness. What did we have to do for the initiation again? I remember chess pieces, and RWBY killing the giant Nevermore, but everything else was a hazy blur. Pick up chess pieces, kill Grimm, but I got the feeling that there was something else I'd forgotten. One crucial detail...

* * *

**I think we all know what it is...**

**Sorry for the inactivity, but right now, going through life in general. School's currently taking priority, but hopefully, I'll find some time to pick up speed.**

**Also, another heatwave is inbound. So there probably won't be another chapter for a little while. Maybe. I have a small piece of it written already.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Well, this was sooner than I expected.**

**But given that RWBY Season 2 has been announced, I figured I'd give a little gift to my readers.**

* * *

**Chapter 9: I Get Knocked Down, But I Get Up Again**

"OhcrapohcrapohcrapOHCRAP!"

Flying through the air, more details of initiation began to return to me. Including how students were dropped into the forest. Flying through the air, arms and legs uselessly flailing in panic, I tried to find a way to the ground that didn't involve me becoming a pasty red mess spattered on the Emerald Forest floor.

I managed to spy a tree, taller than most, and a thought began whirring in my head. Immediately, I flicked my wrist twice, forming the crossbow on my right wrist, and cocked the weapon. Aiming, I let fly at the tall tree, and a grappling barb attached to a thin wire shot out of the weapon, much like a harpoon. I prayed it would make a good anchor.

A second later, my right arm was nearly wrenched from my body, and my course of flight changed. Screaming in pain and terror, I could only watch as I circled the tree uncontrollably, once, twice, three times, drawing closer to the trunk. Right before I hit the tree, I felt a cable slip over my body, and as I slammed into the wooden monument, I found out that somehow, I had managed to tie myself to the tree, seven stories from terra firma.

"Something tells me I did not think this through..." I whispered to myself. As I futilely struggled against my own bindings, I heard gunshots reverberate through the forest, and creatures roaring. While the logical thing to do was to stay up here and wait till the danger had passed, a part of me wanted to get down to the ground and help slay monsters.

Fortunately for me, my left forearm managed to escape being entangled, and I still had the weapon ready. Flicking the blades forward, making the double edged sword, I tried to reach up to the wire that imprisoned me, and attempted to cut it. The first time, I only ended up grazing my shoulder. The second, a part of the wire had managed to fray.

"Come on, come on..." I muttered to myself. And with one final swipe, the wire snapped in two, releasing me.

"YES!" I let out a triumphant yell. But as I looked down, I realised another part I had not thought about: getting to the ground. As I fell, I impacted on a tree branch, causing it to snap. I continued to fall, slamming stomach first on another branch. It, too, broke from the tree, and I continued falling. As I angled myself upright, I managed to get another branch, this time hitting me in the... special place.

A strangled screech escaped my lips, quickly giving way to a loud roar of pain I assumed could be heard from a kilometer away. The pain burning in that region made me wonder two things: first, why I had not thought of anything beyond firing that cable. And the second thing that flashed through my mind was the most important question I had ever asked: Did Remnant offer testicle transplants?

Frozen in pain, I slid off of the branch which had robbed me of the chance to ever have kids, only to be tangled in vines, caught in them like a net. As I descended through the trees, I prayed the vines wouldn't be able to hold my weight. Unfortunately, the creepers held fast, suspending me above the ground by about double Cardin's height. I saw two people approaching: one with golden hair, and another with black hair.

"You know, that Ursa wasn't that tough. I could have taken him."

"Still, it had it's attention focused on you. I had a shot. I had to take it."

Blake and Yang. Clearly they had taken down the Ursa, and were now looking for the temple. They hadn't seen me yet, so I somehow had to get their attention.

"Hey, ladies? Little help here?" I tried to speak, but all that emerged was a muffled voice: a large vine had been caught in my mouth, too large and wedged in too deep for me to spit out. Plus my hands were also entangled in vines, so I couldn't grip the plant that had invaded that particular orifice.

"Blake, you hear something?" Yang had stopped, readying Ember Celica. She was looking around, trying to find the source of the noise. Blake also looked around, her hand wrapped around the hilt of Gambol Shroud.

"Yes. It's faint, but I think I heard..." Blake trailed off, looking around. She drew her sword, and cocked it into it's pistol mode. I grew worried: if they thought I was a Grimm, I would be dead.

Suddenly, out of the bushes in front of the pair, a Beowolf lunged at the two women. They rolled out of the way, and fired their weapons at the monster. It shrugged the rounds off like it was nothing, and continued to charge. Yang managed to nail the beast with an uppercut, then sent it flying with a right hook, into the underbrush, where it turned tail and fled, whimpering like a scared puppy.

"Yeah, that's right. You'd better run!" Yang taunted. She turned to leave, and Blake followed suit. I sighed. They hadn't heard me at all. Now I was trapped, and forced to wait until the next human came along. Or a Grimm, which would presumably think of me as nothing more than a piñata, ripe for the killing.  
My thoughts were interrupted, when I heard a swift slicing sound, and fell to the ground, still somewhat entangled in the vines. Immediately, I reached for the one trapped in my mouth, and yanked it out, gasping for air as I did so. Blake stood over me, retrieving her weapon from the tangle of vines that I lay in. Yang stood over her shoulder, a wide grin on her face.

"Well, this is a _vine_ state of affairs." She snickered. Were I not nursing my balls, which still ached from the tree branch's impact, I could think of about fifty different insults to call her. But as of right now, there was only one thought that entered my head.

"God. Dammit. Yang." I growled, cupping my testicles in my right hand. Blake knelt down, and studied me closely. Finally, she stood up.

"You're fine, Darrel. You just need to walk it off." She said, with no emotion in her voice. And with those words, she walked off into the woods. Yang stayed behind, and offered a hand to help me up. I took it with my free hand, and got to my feet. That was when I noticed that my weapons had slipped off of my arms.

"Oh, come on! Could this day get any worse?" I yelled, punching the tree I had tied myself to in the first place, causing it to shake slightly. As the tree rustled, I heard a series of clinks and clonks. Looking up, I saw my weapons for a split second, as they fell from the tree right towards my head.

"Oh, son of a..."

* * *

After I had been revived from the unconsciousness inflicted by my own weapons, Yang helped me harness my weapons back on my wrists, and began to frogmarch me through the woods. Blake sliced through the undergrowth, whilst I kept a lookout for any Creatures of Grimm. Yang, in the meantime, was glancing among the bushes, as if looking for someone else. As Blake continued to hack and slash at the flora, I jogged up to her. I hadn't had a chance to interact with her personally, so I figured now was as good a time as any.

"Blake? Could I ask you a question?" I asked, cursing myself for the obvious tautology. Blake stopped slicing at the leaves and vines, and glanced at me.

"I'll ignore the fact that you just did, Darrel. As long as I get to ask you something in return." She stated bluntly. I nodded, and thought about a potential topic. Her past? I knew she had once been a member of the White Fang, but that was all. But from the implications, it sounded as if she had been one since birth. So, that was ruled out. Her weapon? No, I knew enough about that. The Faunus in general? I seriously doubt I could word it in a way where it didn't come across as if I knew her secret. As Blake continued to scrutinize me, I blurted out the one thing I was thinking.

"Do you think I have a shot with Yang?"

_"And there goes the mouth moving ahead of the brain. I really need to curb that someday."_

Blake just blinked, and gave me a quick answer.

"No."

Hold on, what? Did she just say no?

"But don"t you think...?"

"No."

"Could you just hear...?"

"No."

"Why are you...?"

"Your one question has turned into three. Now I have to ask you three questions." Blake smirked slightly. At this point I wasn't sure if she honestly thought I wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of dating Yang, or if she was just messing with me.

"How capable are you of fighting?"

I looked at my wrists, thinking of applications for beyond stabbing, slicing, gripping, and shooting. To be honest, now that I thought about it, there could have been a lot I didn't know about the Iridescent Basilisks. If anything, I only survived by luck alone. But in this world, I would need a hell of a lot more than luck.

"To tell the truth, I mainly just get lucky. I still don't know everything about my weapons." I shrugged. Blake shook her head.

"Here, I'll help you." She said, grabbing my arm, and with a scoff, she began to spin the circular device on the weapon, causing it to click loudly, like a ratchet.

"See these emblems? This is for explosive arrows." She pointed to a simple diagram of an explosion.

"This is for grappling barbs," her finger pointed out a barbed arrow, "and this is for gravitational control." Now she pointed to a small rune, like a glyph.

"I-I get it, Blake. Your third question?" I held up my free hand, and wrenched my hand free from her grip. Blake looked at me confusedly.

"No, second question. I've only asked you one, Darrel." She said. Then her face lit up in realization.

"Dammit, you tricked me, didn't you?" She asked, one side of her mouth turning up into a small grin. I winked slyly at her.

"If you can't take it, don"t dish it out.' I teased, almost in a singsong. She let out a small giggle, one I had never expected to hear before.

"Touché. Okay then, here it is. You wouldn't happen to have a crush on Yang, would you?"

I breathed softly, letting my shoulders rise and fall. Blake gave me a friendly jab in the shoulder, right where I had grazed it earlier while trying to get out of the tree. A stinging pain tingled across my right arm, but I shook it off. Looking around, Yang was lagging behind, checking to see if either Ruby or the temple were in sight somewhere. I turned to Blake, and nodded. She said nothing, just smiled. As I turned to go to Yang, I felt Blake's hand grab my uninjured shoulder, spinning me around.

"By the way, you and Yang would actually make a cute couple." She smiled. I flashed Blake a thumbs-up, and dashed back to Yang, hearing Blake's boots crunching through the grass and fallen leaves. As she saw me approaching, she grinned, and walked over to me.

"What's up, Vine-boy?" She grinned. I gave a look of annoyance, before snickering. Looking back, my antics in the tree would had been pretty funny to someone watching. Were it not the little ache in my groin, I would have burst out laughing.

"You know, I have a name, Yang."

"Eh, I'm just messing with you, Darrel. So how'd you meet Ruby?" She asked. I shrugged.

"That explosive sneeze of hers kind of caught my attention. Kinda hard to miss, actually." I shrugged. Yang laughed loudly.

"Man, and here was me thinking that she'd just had a fit. Anyway, I wanted to say thanks."

I scratched the side of my head nervously.

"Well, yeah, I've dealt with that kind of thing before. My brother used to get nightmares..." Yang placed a hand on my arm.

"Not that. You and Jaune made her feel welcome." She smiled tenderly, a smile I had never seen before. Feeling nervous, I shuffled from foot to foot, not knowing what to say.

But before I could think, I heard a quiet growl, like an animal snarling. Yang pumped her arms, unfurling Ember Celica, and I flicked my wrists, the blades of my Iridescent Basilisks shooting out. Before I knew it, Blake had drawn Gambol Shroud, and stood, ready for anything.

"Get back-to-back, ladies. Less chance of an ambush." I whispered. Blake and Yang nodded, turning so that we faced outwards in a triangular perimeter. The growling grew louder, until it was almost to the point of roaring. But I had trouble trying to discern where it was coming from. It seemed to be echoing from everywhere.

Before I could blink, a Creature of Grimm, with like a body like a black panther, leaped out of the bushes towards me, maw snarling and dripping with saliva. Instinctively, I yelled out, and dropped to my knees, rolling forward underneath the Grimm. Yang had leaped out of the way with a blast from Ember Celica, and Blake had disappeared using her semblance. The panther landed, and roared to us, clearly hoping we would provide a challenge.

All of a sudden, the puma lunged towards me. I felt like panicking, but under these circumstances, I somehow felt calm. So as the panther grew closer, I held up my right arm, and the Grimm, still roaring and flying through the air, landed belly first on my blade. Raising the other arm up, I stabbed the creature through the chest, piercing the bones, and causing the creature to spasm in pain. It roared, and tried to swipe at me, but I narrowly dodged. The creature attempted to slash again, but this time, it managed to strike: a claw raked diagonally down from my temple to the top of my upper lip. The pain was immense, and blood was pouring out, but I managed to throw the beast onto it's back. The beast rolled onto it's paws, and roared, before disappearing into thin air.

Looking up, I saw Blake and Yang were looking around, weapons at the ready, as if they were about to defend themselves from an unseen threat. After a few moments, they pointed behind me, and yelled out something intelligible. As I spun around, the panther appeared, leaping down from a tree branch. With it's salivating maw, and it's blood red eyes burning in an inferno of hatred, I was frozen to the spot, utterly terrified of what was certain to be inevitable death.

A flash of fire. A streak of shadow. Both careened forwards, sending the panther flying into the air. Yang and Blake appeared beside me, and had their weapons ready, looks of rage on their faces. Yang fired herself forwards, her fist slamming into the panther, catapulting it into a tree, and launching herself into a back handspring, landing beside me. Blake dashed forwards, and threw her ribbon towards the dazed beast. Rather than impacting into the soft flesh, it flew past the tree, only to be caught by it's wielder, as she proceeded to pin the beast to the tree. As it struggled against it's bindings, Yang wrapped her hands around my ankles, and began to spin around, as if preparing for a hammer throw. Finally, at a dizzying speed, she let go, causing me to go flying through the air, towards the thrashing monster.

Bringing my fists up, I saw that my blades had, at some point, been forced to crossbow mode. As adrenaline flooded my system, time seemed to slow to a crawl. I fired an arrow at the creatures limbs, stopping his thrashes, and pinning it's paws to the tree. Then before it could free itself, I had landed, impaling the beast through the brain, and heart, killing it in an instant. As I attempted to remove my swords from the beast, Yang walked up, whilst Blake untangled the ribbon from the tree.

"Good moves, Darrel. I still can't believe that we just killed a Nightmare Maw." She smiled. I nodded, feeling a little lightheaded.

I finally dislodged my blades, panting and covered in a crimson coat of blood, mine and the Grimm's. Looking over the corpse, which had already begun to smoke and evaporate, I couldn't believe what I had just done. I, a meek teenager completely out of his element, had managed to kill a monster. Kneeling down, I grasped a canine from the dead beast, and after some tugging, I managed to wrench it free, the rock hard tooth as long as a dagger. Wiping it clean, I stuffed it into my rucksack. It would make a good trophy. I attempted to stand, but fell to on all fours near a tree. Yang helped me by hoisting me to a nearby tree, and laying me in it's shade.

Blake had rejoined us, and was dabbing away at my injury with a leaf, wiping away any stray blood. I fingered the injury, digits unconsciously rubbing the crevice that the Nightmare Maw had gifted me. Yang looked at curiously, not trying to glance at the wound.

"How's it look?" I asked. Yang inhaled sharply.

"It's... going to show." She shrugged, a half-hearted smile threatening to weave through her lips. Blake looked at me.

"Why didn't you use Aura?" She asked. I shrugged, feeling more and more lightheaded.

"I-I can't. I wasn't taught how to." I slurred. Yang knelt down in front of me, and placed her hand on my chest.

"Close your eyes." She ordered. I complied. Then she began to recite an incantation.

_For it is in victory everlasting, that we may protect those who cannot protect themselves,  
We become paragons of honor and duty to rise above all,  
Unafraid of death, and unrelenting to the cruel and wicked,  
I unleash your soul, and empower thy spirit with the strength of my will._

I opened my eyes, to find my skin glowing a darkish blue, the same shade as my jacket and bandana. Yang was kneeling on all fours, panting heavily. I looked at Blake, who was still dressing my wound. But as she dabbed at it, a prickling sensation washed over, and the wound was gone. Instinctively, my hand flew up to the wound, only to find it was no longer there. Looking back at Yang, she looked up, smiling.

"Whelp, you won't have to worry anymore. Your Aura is now available for use. No need to thank me." She grinned. I flashed a smile back, and threw myself up.

"We should get moving. Right now, those artifacts aren't going to retrieve themselves." I said to the two girls. Offering Yang a hand, she took it, and stood up, eyes locking with mine. For a moment, I could have sworn I saw some colour enter Yang's cheeks. But then she let go, turned away, and sprinted into the trees. I looked at Blake, and was met with a simple shrug. Then we both high tailed it after Yang, the Nightmare Maw's tooth clunking against my back serving as a constant reminder that maybe, just maybe, I wasn't so helpless after all.

* * *

**Whelp, the first fight scene. I'm not really the best at this sort of thing, so if it's not up to the same caliber as previous chapters, you'll have to excuse that.**

**Also, you may notice a few things: Aura healing Darrel's injury, the Nightmare Maw, and Yang's incantation.**

*** For the healing Aura, I'm figuring that since it can lessen impacts, it could also heal them. Until it's stated otherwise, that's my idea of it.**

*** The Nightmare Maw is one of two fan-made Grimm that I've created. Check it out on the RWBYFanon Wiki.**

*** And Yang's incantation... I was kind of pressed for time, so I just changed the general gist of the one Pyrrha recounted in The Emerald Forest from immortality to protection.**

**So there you go.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Well, I'm still alive.**

**Barely.**

**School's back in season and I'm still getting used to the early rises. So if this is not up to previous standards, then you'll have to forgive me.**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Perception, Pieces, and Plotting**

As it turned out, taking the Nightmare Maw's fang as a trophy wasn't a good move.

Every step I took only caused the fang I had taken to dig deeper and deeper into my spine, causing major discomfort. I constantly as to shift my shoulder to adjust it. But every time, it seemed to roll back into that position, pointing into my back, threatening to rupture my skin. Clearly not learning, I continued to adjust it, and waited two minutes for it to point into my back again.

Yang was leading through the undergrowth, while Blake had her weapon drawn, checking for threats. I understood why: any Grimm could potentially come out of nowhere and easily ruin our day. Mine in particular, since I only knew about 7 species out of potentially millions. After glancing at the trees, I began to think back to what Blake had said.

_You and Yang would actually make a cute couple..._

But would we? She was loud, strong and brave, while I was quiet, submissive, and scared. I'd never had a girlfriend, even beyond school, whereas she had undoubtedly had her share of boyfriends, all of them most likely tough, tattooed, and macho: everything I was not. To be honest, I was Yang's complete opposite. I was lucky she was even giving me the time of day.

"Yo, Darrel!"

I looked up to see Yang waving to me. I snapped out of my daydream, and jogged up to her. She pointed to a fallen tree, with a feather resting on top of it. But not just any feather. Black, with a white tip, ragged and massive, at least double my height.

"What do you think about this? Maybe a Grimm cut the tree?" She asked. Blake ran her fingers over the feather, as if trying to determine it's origin. I looked at the tree, and saw that it had been cut clean through. Finally remembering, I turned back to Yang.

"Ruby. She was here." I spoke. Blake looked up.

"But why is this feather here? Would she have been attacked?" She asked. I shook my head.

"Doubtful. If a Grimm and her fought here, there'd be a lot more damage than just a tree that was cleanly cut. I'd say that she cut the tree down in frustration, or something." I explained. Yang nodded.

"Well, as long as she's okay, I'm fine. We should keep moving." She commanded. Blake nodded, whilst I looked at the feather. Knowing my luck, I'd probably end up fighting that creature. The Nevermore...

"Hey, Darrel! What are you waiting for? An invitation? Come on!" Yang yelled. I turned, and sprinted after the girls, praying that fate would at least be merciful.

* * *

As it turned out, she was.

We hadn't had any more issues with the Grimm, and a few minutes later, the three of us were standing on a hill high above the forest temple.

"Think this is it?" Yang asked Blake. Blake gave no response, only beginning to slide down the hill. Yang looked at me. I just shrugged, then began to run down the hill. Finally hitting the bottom, I tucked and rolled into a standing position. Yang skidded to a stop behind me. Seeing Blake examine the relics on pedestals in the overgrown and crumbling amphitheater, I decided to get a look at what was available to take back to Professor Ozpin. To my expectations...

"Chess pieces?" Blake asked to no one in particular.

"Well, think about it. There's two of every piece. Two sets of partners grab a black Bishop, they're forced to stick together for the next four years. It's logical." I explained to Blake, who was glancing at the various pieces. Yang gestured to some empty pedestals.

"Looks like we weren't the first ones here. Some pieces are missing." She pointed out that a Black Bishop had already been taken, while it's partner was still on display. Blake looked over the relics once again.

"Well, I guess we should pick one." Blake suggested, looking at the available choices. I had to admit, I was a little worried at this point. If I picked the wrong relic, then I'd be stuck with a bunch of jerks like Team CRDL, or someone I didn't know, and that was the last thing I wanted. As I kept thinking about choices, Yang reached for one for one of the golden horses, the white Knight. She waved it to Blake.

"How 'bout a cute little pony?" She asked. Blake smirked and rolled her eyes.

"Sure." She relented, a hint of amusement in her voice. I shook my head, my mouth giving a small grin of my own. I watched as they walked to the centre of the circular temple, a smile on both of their faces.

"That wasn't so hard!" Yang said happily, her fingers gripped tightly around the relic.

"Well, it's not like this place is very hard to find." Blake shrugged. I walked up to the duo, and they both turned to me.

"Yeah, but we still need to make it back to the cliffs alive." I pointed out. Yang's smile faded to a wistful glance in my direction, while Blake glanced at my hands, seeing that they were empty.

"Darrel, why haven't you picked a relic?" She asked. I sighed. The answer was plain and simple: I had no partner, no friends, no team, nothing to speak of. If I grabbed a relic, I'd be breaking a canon team up, or be forced to stick with a team that I had no knowledge of. But if I didn't take a piece, then Ozpin would kick me out, leaving me stranded forever on this planet. In the end, none of the relics suited me.

"Darrel?"

I looked up to see Yang holding out a relic for me to take. A black King. I held it in my hands, contemplating my choices. Take the king, and risk not seeing her again, or refuse, and face the consequences of not bringing a relic. As if out of nowhere, that Faunus woman's voiced niggled in the back of my skull.

**Take it. You need to learn how to fight. You cannot let her hold you back.**

_But I'm not letting her throw everything under the bus just for me._

**Do not let your feelings get the better of you. It is imperative...**

_Shut up!_

I couldn't do it. I shoved the relic back into her hands. She blinked, surprised. I inhaled, and let my mouth flow.

"Thank you, Yang. But I'm not going to go with a random team because you want to help me out. If I'm going to do this, I at least want to have a teammate I can trust with my life. A teammate like you." I stated. Yang smiled, and threw her arms around me, crushing my lungs, and possibly chipping a couple of ribs. I hugged back, grateful for the moment. As I looked up, Blake shot me a small wink. I sighed, smiled, closed my eyes, and let my worries slip away.

* * *

_"This is pointless. We cannot afford to waste time watching this foolish boy let his emotions run wild."  
"Yet again you fail to realise. This boy will save us. Deliver us to victory. You cannot expect him to assist us if his heart is not in the right place."  
"But his emotions are unstable, confused. He is conflicted about staying on this world, and returning to his. And the girl..."  
"You think I am unaware of the blossoming romance between these two? As long as she is around, she will teach him how to fight. But after that, she serves no more purpose."  
"Why should we bother with this prolonged training? Why do you insist on the boy's preparations?"  
"Because, my dear, this one will be useless if we do not curb his feelings and train him."_

* * *

As she let go, I heard a scraping noise arise from behind. I turned to see another pedestal rise from the centre of the temple. As it reached the height of it's twins surrounding it, a small panel opened, revealing a final relic. A pawn, white as a bone, rested in the space, enticing me to pick it up. I walked up, hand reaching out for the relic. But as my fingers were about to touch it, my ears went numb as a shrill scream punctuated the still air, sending a few leaves shaking from their trees as flocks of birds rose in a panic.

*CLUNK-CLICK*

Yang had activated Ember Celica, and turned to find the source of the scream.

"Some girl is in trouble!" She exclaimed, and was preparing to dash off to help 'her'. I chuckled, knowing that the 'girl' was actually Jaune, who had just run afoul of a Deathstalker. I started to jog up, intending to inform her of the truth, when I realized I had nearly collided with Blake who was glancing skyward. I sidestepped, and dashed to Yang's side.

"Yang, that's not a girl." I said sheepishly.

Yang turned to me, a quizzical look plastered on her face.

"It's not?"

I shook my head.

"Well, who was it?" She asked. I began to twiddle my fingers nervously.

"It's Jaune." I sighed. Yang blinked. And then, she burst into a laughing fit. Tears streamed down her eyes, and she held her side, apparently busting a gut. I just rolled my eyes, even as Jaune's screams and sobs echoed through the forest.

"PYRRHA! THIS IS NOT THE RELIC! IT'S NO-O-O-T!" Even though he was my friend, I couldn't help but find his situation somewhat amusing. Shaking my head, and trying to restrain the laughter, I glanced at Blake, who was still scrutinizing the heavens. Yang, getting up from the temple floor, tears streaked down her cheeks and holding her side, she tapped Blake on the shoulder.

"B-blake! Did-did you just hear that?! That was Jaune screaming! What a-" She never got any further, as Blake suddenly wheeled around to face us, startling me, and causing Yang to recover from her guffawing. After her cackling had subsided, she pointed up to the sky. She looked up, as did I, shielding my eyes from the harsh glare of the sky, I could see - and hear - someone approaching.

"**HEADS UUUUUUUUUUUPPPPP!**"

_Ruby?_

* * *

**Yeah, this chapter is pretty short, but like I said, I'm still easing back into school, so cut me some slack.**

**And as for the shipping... It's there. I don't really do romantic scenes all that well, and writer's block is seriously overstaying it's nonexistant welcome, so go easy, OK?**


	11. Chapter 11

**FIVE. THOUSAND. WORDS.**

**I'm not kidding. That's how long this chapter is. Consider it an apology for the really short chapter in the last update.**

**Also, there's now a TVTropes page for this fanfic! If you want to help expand it, I'd glady accept the help.**

* * *

Chapter 11: Riders of the Storm

Without a doubt, it was indeed Ruby sailing towards the three of us, and from the looks of it, she was hurtling straight towards us. In particular, towards me. Eyes wide as dinner plates, she was flailing her arms as she tried to steer away from the hard surface of the temple floor. I ducked my head, and kneeled down, trying to protect myself from the inevitable impact.

It was a few seconds before I realised it never came. I cautiously opened one eye, and saw that Ruby was gone. In a tree nearby, I heard a dazed moaning, and rustling branches. Looking through the leaves, I saw Ruby lying on a branch, while Jaune hung upside down next to her, an embarrassed look evident on his face. Blake looked at the tree where the two hung, a confused look on her face.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky, Yang?" She asked. Yang was about to speak, when an explosion distracted the three of us. Out of the trees stumbled an Ursa, clawing wildly, as if trying to dislodge an annoying insect from its body. Another explosion rang out, and the beast began to fall. As it tumbled, we heard a yell. But it wasn't a battle cry. Rather, it sounded like a kid having too much fun on a bucking bronco.

"YEEEEE-HAAAAAW!"

As the Ursa flopped onto the grass, it's rider rolled off, landing on her feet, and her look of joy turned to one of sadness as she looked at the dead beast.

"Aw. It's broken."

Ah, yes. Nora Valkyrie. Hard hitter and constant smiler. Even though her love of battle bordered on the psychotic, I liked her. As she clambered back on the dead bear, a boy in a green tailcoat suddenly appeared beside the beast, clearly out of breath.

"Nora! Please… never do that again." He panted. As he looked up, his magenta eyes grew wide, as he saw that Nora had disappeared. Looking around frantically, his eyes finally rested behind us. I turned, only to see Nora looking at one of the White Castles with curiosity. As she snatched it, she began singing a dainty little tune, whilst balancing the relic on her head.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"

"NORA!" Ren yelled, causing Nora to stop, and me to jump. She smiled, saluted, tilted her head and caught the relic in her free hand.

"Coming, Ren!" she giggled, then started to skip off to her partner. Blake watched her depart.

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" she wondered aloud. Yang went to answer, but never got a word out before a red-haired girl sprinted out of the trees, which were quickly uprooted by a giant scorpion pursuing her. It slashed at her, snapping its mandibles together, but she leaped forwards, the claw barely nicking her skirt.

"Jaune!" she yelled.

"Pyrrha!" He cried.

"Whoa!" Ruby exclaimed, as she jumped out of the tree, leaving Jaune literally high and dry.

"Ruby!" He yelled. Ruby landed beside me and Yang.

"Ruby?" Yang asked. Ruby looked to her, and a smile encompassed her face.

"Yang!" She yelled, moving to hug her. After a few moments, I decided to get everyone's attention to the approaching danger.

"Yang? Ruby?" I began, but before I could get any further, Nora popped up beside me.

"NORA!" She yelled, causing me to fall on my butt in surprise. As I jumped up, I saw Pyrrha still running from the scorpion.

"Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?" She asked. As I was about to comment on her ability to narrate the obvious events unfolding before our eyes, Yang literally exploded in a ball of fire. I panicked, and ducked behind a pillar, scared of getting singed.

"**I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! COULD EVERYONE JUST CHILL OUT FOR TWO SECONDS BEFORE SOMETHING ****_CRAZY_**** HAPPENS AGAIN?!**"

Nervously poking my head out from behind the scorched pillar, I saw Ren finally run up to Nora, as she did a little dance. Apparently, she was incapable of standing still for a millisecond, though given her limitless energy; it wasn't hard to see why. Yang panted as the flames surrounding her died down, while Ruby tapped her on the arm.

"Um, Yang?" She pointed to the sky. Yang didn't even bother to look, she just slumped forwards in frustration. I cautiously walked up to her, and patted her on the back.

"Look on the bright side. Everyone chilled out for two seconds exactly." I joked. Yang shot me a murderous leer.

"Don't even start, Darrel." She growled, and I immediately took my hand off of her, and looked to the sky, whistling innocently. Only then did I see a gigantic bird in the sky. It resembled a condor, but it was larger. Far, far larger. As in, _Pacific Rim _Otachi size. On one of the bird's talons, there was a white speck. Craning my neck, I saw that it was…

Weiss?

"**HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME?!**" She screamed down to Ruby. Ruby shrugged.

"I said, jump!" She protested.

"She's gonna fall."

"She'll be fine."

"She's falling."

Looking away from the two aloof warriors, I saw that Weiss was indeed falling. I was about to dash forward, when I saw a streak of black, white, and blue jump out of a tree, and catch the falling heiress. Right then, it was almost as if gravity had stopped for the two of them. Jaune had caught Weiss in his arms, a confident look on his face.

"Just dropping in?" He asked flirtatiously. Weiss said nothing, only looked down. Jaune followed suit, and very quickly realised his dangerous mistake.

"Oh, God!" He cried. The two hugged each other tightly, and began to fall again, Jaune screaming all the way down. I decided that maybe now would be a good time to spare Jaune some pain. I dashed forwards, and ran to where Jaune was about to land. As it turned out, he was heavy, far too heavy for me to carry. He sent me sprawling on the ground, our faces dangerously close to each other. I chuckled nervously, and looked up to see a still-falling Weiss. She landed on Jaune's back, crushing the wind out of him, and sending one of her combat heels careening into my still-numb testicles.

"My heroes." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as nonchalantly checked her nails.

"My back!" Jaune croaked, raising an arm up in pain.

"My plums!" I whimpered. Looking from side to side, I saw Pyrrha run to the temple, where the Deathstalker stopped, and gave a short growl, daring one of the other warriors to charge in. Throwing a blank Weiss and a moaning Jaune off of me, I looked up to see Pyrrha ungainly dive into the ground beside Ruby.

"Great. The gang's all here. Now we can die together!"

Oh, Yang, always with the deadpan…

"Not if I can help it!" Ruby smiled cockily, and charged headlong at the giant scorpion, screaming a war cry and unfolding Crescent Rose. Yang reached for her futilely.

"Ruby, wait!" She yelled after her. I shook my head, and dashed after her, activating the Iridescent Basilisks on my wrist. As Ruby was about to strike, the Deathstalker swung its pincer, sending her flying straight into me, and knocking us flat. Ruby got up and turned to the group still at the temple.

"D-do-don't worry! Totally fine!" she yelled out. I tugged her cloak.

"Uh, Ruby?! I'd focus on the thing that's trying to kill us!" I yelled out in a panic. I scrambled to my feet, and took off running for my life, dragging Ruby behind me. As the Deathstalker chased us across the field, Yang began sprinting to us, Ember Celica at the ready, and a scared look on her face.

"Darrel! Ruby!" She yelled. Hearing an unmistakeable cawing, I looked back. The Nevermore was swooping overhead, as if preparing to attack. It flapped its wings, and a tempest of feathers, identical to the one Yang had found by the tree earlier, erupted from its wings, slamming into the ground like daggers. Trying desperately to avoid the storm of blades, I leapt from foot to foot as the feathers struck around our feet. Although I had been successful, I looked back to see that a stray feather had pinned Ruby's cloak to the terrain, trapping her and making her an easy target for the approaching Deathstalker. I looked back to Yang. She had slowed down so as to avoid being struck by the feathers, and had been forced to watch as Ruby struggled with her cloak.

"Ruby, get outta there!" Yang yelled. Ruby continued to struggle with her cloak.

"I'm trying!" She yelled back. At this point, the Deathstalker was right on top of her, ready to make the killing blow.

**This is the moment! Slay that monster, save your friend!**

_For once, lady, you and I agree._

I dashed forwards, blades at the ready, and began to slash at the feather pinning Ruby. She looked up in terror at the approaching golden stinger, but I was too focussed on freeing her to notice. I kept slicing the feather, but the quill was too tough for my blade to pierce. I turned, to find myself face to face to the stinger, inches away from my nose. I put my hands up instinctively, to protect myself, when a flash of blue light shone from my hands, sending the Deathstalker reeling.

As I looked at my hands in confusion, Ruby was pulling the quill out of her cloak, freeing herself. She tried to tug me away, but I was too distracted by the flash of light that had come out of… me. The Deathstalker recovered quickly, and was about to strike once again. I looked up, and covered Ruby with my body, her eyes closed in fear.

*SHWING*

A white streak suddenly flashed past me, and the stinger was suddenly surrounded by ice.

"You two are so idiotic!"

A familiar voice. One that I remembered hating me with all its existence. Ruby opened her eyes, and I looked up to see Weiss kneeling in front of the ice on a light blue glyph.

"Weiss…?" Ruby muttered.

"And reckless, and borderline insane, and don't even get me started on your fighting styles. And I suppose I've been a bit…" She paused, as if searching for the correct word.

"…_Difficult…_to you two. But if we're going to do this… we're going to do this together." She lectured, leaning down to us. Ruby got to her knees, whilst I scrambled to my feet. Lifting her rapier, she pointed at Ruby.

"So if you quit trying to show off…" She then moved her weapon so it was pointed at my chest.

"And if _you_ stop acting like a hot-headed know-it-all, I'll be… nicer." She finished, an inflection in her voice hinting that she did NOT want to do this. Ruby stepped forward.

"I'm not trying to show off and Darrel is not a know-it-all. I want you to know I can do this." She retorted. Weiss just gave a little huff.

"You're fine, and he kind of is." She stated, walking back to the temple. Ruby looked at me. I shrugged apologetically. Truth be told, I had been kind of a douche to Weiss on our first meeting. What better time to start building bridges than when our lives were in danger? Ruby just closed her eyes and whispered something about knees. I decided it'd be best not to ask, only look at how close we were to death. Looking at the massive iceberg that Weiss had conjured, the Deathstalker's tail was frozen straight through, immobilizing it. It struggled to free itself, giving little growls as if exerting effort in pulling its tail. As I turned back to the temple, Yang ran up, arms outstretched. I prepared for the hug, only to see her run straight past me and pull Ruby into her arms.

"So happy you're okay!" Yang breathed a sigh of relief as she checked Ruby for any injuries. I looked at the sisters, and gave a little smile at the sibling affection. Then I sighed sadly, hung my head, and began to trudge back to the temple. As I was about halfway, back, I felt a tender hand on my shoulder. Turning, I saw Yang, her cheeks subtly filling with colour.

"Darrel… I-I know that you were only trying to protect Ruby. But don't pull a stunt like that ever again. Okay?" She stammered. I gave a little smile. I don't think I had ever seen Yang this nervous since… well, ever.

"Yang, she's your sister, and my friend. I'm not going to let some stupid scorpion try and kill her." I stated. Yang smiled. Then she gave me a hard punch on the shoulder. As I rubbed it, she leaned in close, and whispered in my ear.

"That's for risking your life." Then she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. As she leaned away, I looked at her in confusion.

"That's for saving hers." She smiled. I grinned, and then ran back to the temple, to find Jaune, Weiss, and Ruby had regrouped with Blake, Ren, a dancing Nora, and a smiling Pyrrha. Jaune was looking up at the sky, glancing at the Nevermore, which still glided majestically above us.

"Guys? That thing's circling back! What are we gonna do?" He pointed to the sky. Weiss strode up, a confident look on her face.

"Look, there's no sense in wasting any more time. Our objective is right in front of us."

"She's right. Our mission is to grab an artefact, and make it back to the cliffs." Ruby continued, nodding towards Weiss. Looking back at the struggling Deathstalker, she sighed.

"There's no point in fighting these things." She stated. Jaune smiled happily.

"Run and live. Now that is an idea I can get behind!" He grinned. Along with Ruby, he went to pick up a relic. Ruby picked a white horse, Jaune picked a white castle. They glanced at each other, and smiled at their respective choices. Blake tapped me on the shoulder, drawing my attention.

"Darrel, aren't you gonna pick out a relic?" She asked. I suddenly remembered: I had had trouble picking out one, but now… I knew which one I would pick. I stepped forward to the pedestal in the centre of the temple, and gripped the pawn resting in the alcove.

"Why'd you pick that one?" Pyrrha asked. I turned to her.

"Well, get a pawn to the end of a chess board, it can become a Castle, a Knight, a Bishop or a Queen. Ozpin must have placed this as a wild card, I guess." I explained, shoving the pawn into my pocket. Hearing a cracking noise, I noticed that the Deathstalker was about to break free from its icy prison.

"Time we left." Ren said. Ruby nodded.

"Right. Let's go!" She commanded. Waving us over, the group began to run. I prepared to run, when I noticed Yang hadn't joined us. I turned back, and sprinted back to her. Blake had also stopped beside her.

"What is it?" Blake asked her. Yang looked proudly at Ruby, who had jumped on a boulder, and waved to her allies. Yang just shrugged.

"Nothing." She said. Blake gave me a knowing look, and I smiled. Then she flashed me a thumbs up and took off. I glanced back at the Deathstalker, which had begun chipping away at the ice with its pincers. I knew it wouldn't be long before it broke free, so I turned, and hotfooted it, following Blake towards the cliffs.

* * *

As the nine of us broke through the trees, we came across some old ruins, clearly built to protect the former inhabitants from any attacking Grimm. The structures had crumbled and faded to time, but they still held strong, as I took cover alongside Nora and Ren. The Nevermore flew overhead, and landed atop the tower which was the only obstacle between us and the cliff. As it cawed, Yang growled softly in annoyance.

"Well, that's great!" She said sarcastically. As I looked to Jaune and Pyrrha, I noticed he was looking at the forest we had emerged from. As I looked, the Deathstalker ploughed through the trees, moving faster than ever, and obviously very angry.

"Oh, man, RUN!" Jaune yelled. Given how well Ruby and I had gone against that leviathan, it was probably the best idea. I dashed out from behind the pillar, and began to leg it to the bridge spanning the chasm.

"Nora, distract it!" Ren ordered. As the Nevermore unleashed a hail of feathers, she pulled out her weapon, a massive grenade launcher, and began to fire at the massive bird. As pink explosions plumed all around it, I looked back to see Blake and Ren slash at the approaching scorpion, while Weiss took Nora and catapulted herself and her giggling cargo next to Jaune, both women hitting the ground running. As I ran alongside Jaune and Pyrrha, she looked back to see Blake and Ren running for their lives.

"Go, GO!" She yelled, and dropping to one knee, she unloaded a few rounds from her rifle into the approaching beast, while Ren pulled out his bladed machine pistols and emptied the clips, to no visible effect. It crashed through the pillars, barely missing the two gunslingers and Blake. As we ran across the bridge, I remembered that the Nevermore would blow through the bridge, separating us into our respective teams.

"Guys, WE NEED TO MOVE!" I screamed, seeing the approaching Nevermore out of the corner of my eye barrelling straight towards us. As we ran, the Nevermore grew closer and closer, until finally, as I predicted, it torpedoed through the bridge, splitting it into two. While everyone was forced to the sides of the bridge, I was thrown up into the air, grabbing onto the Nevermore's tail, and holding on for dear life as the wind whipped at my face.

I remember screaming as the Nevermore began to buck and spin, trying to dislodge me from its tail. As I continued to grip tightly, I heard Yang yell out my name, before my friends disappeared behind a cliff. The Nevermore screeched as it bucked and thrashed. One of my hands lost its grip, and I was nearly sent careening into the abyss.

At that point, I had an idea. Flicking my wrist, I fired a grappling barb up towards the creature's eye, impacting it through the mask. The massive bird screeched in pain, and I began to climb up the wire that I had fired, towards the Nevermore's head. Even though it thrashed like a wild animal in pain, I held onto the wire, and finally wrapped my legs around the beast's neck. Still clamped onto the wire, I gripped the barb stuck in the beast's eye. Gritting my teeth, I fired another barb forwards, not aiming at anything. Then when the barb was at the right length, I whipped the wire forwards, and as I expected, it whipped through the monster's beak, making a makeshift rein. Wrapping my wrist around the wire, I pulled left, and even though the beast resisted, I could feel my new mount pitch to the left.

I cheered in delight at what I had accomplished, but I soon realised my mistake as the Grimm started to buck again, causing me to pull my reins tighter to keep the beast under what little control I had. I growled in exertion, desperate to stay on.

"Shut up and turn around!" I snarled into what I thought was the Grimm's ear. It spun around, and flew back to where the temple was. Immediately, the beast was bombarded with blasts: clearly, Ruby, Yang and Weiss hadn't seen me surfing on the creature's back. As I tried to steer the creature away so I wouldn't come to any harm. But I saw a flash of black swinging through the air on a ribbon. Blake had seen me, and was sailing through the air. As she leapt up, before I could blink, she had zoomed forward, slashing at the beasts back. I ducked, hoping she wouldn't take my head off by accident. She leapt off of the beast, and it turned around, trying to find where Blake had disappeared to. As I looked down at my wrist, I noticed that somehow, the rein on my left wrist had snapped, and I no longer had control of the monster.

It threw its head back, sending me into the air. I tried to grab onto its tail again, but the monster had wised up to that trick, whipping it away out of my reach. Not to worry: I still had the grappling barbs in my crossbows.

I aimed, and fired a round. Nothing happened. I fired again. Nothing. Did I just seriously run out of ammunition?! I fell past the four girls, getting a good look at the expressions on each of their faces. Ruby's eyes were frozen in confusion, and her mouth was hanging open, as if she couldn't believe that I was riding that Nevermore. Blake looked horrified, her mouth hanging open and her golden eyes wide as dinner plates. Yang looked terrified, reaching out for me in futility. Weiss had a faint pink handprint on her face, as if she had just slapped herself in an attempt to wake herself up.

"DARRELLLL!" Yang screamed. I yelled out in fear, not wanting to find out if this cliff had a bottom that consisted of a bouncy castle or sharp stalagmites. The wind whipped through my hair, and caused my eyelids to flutter. I shut my eyes, spread my body, and waited for the end.

As it turned out, it was sooner than expected: I opened my eyes to find myself resting above a black glyph. I looked up, and saw Weiss flick her fingers upwards. The glyph morphed from a black to a blue colour, and before I knew it, I was rocketing back up into the air, screaming once more. As I reached the apex of my flight, Blake threw her ribbon, entangling my arm in a streak of black, and yanked me to back to the temple. As she untied the ribbon, I found myself panting breathlessly.

"You okay, Darrel?" Ruby asked.

"I just got kidnapped by a Nevermore, I managed to ride it like a mount, I get thrown into the air like a rag doll and I barely survive a fall into a bottomless canyon? No, I'm feeling just peachy." I spat. Before anyone could call me out, I heard a familiar screech. Looking up, the Nevermore was hurtling towards us. Getting to my feet, and spinning the circular drum that Blake had shown me approximately a thousand years ago, I let it stop on the explosive arrows.

"UNLOAD!" Ruby screamed, and we began to fire everything we had at the approaching bird. It seemed to shrug it off like puny little ants were trying to kill it with leaves, and shot through the tower, causing it to crumble to rubble. Yang grabbed me, hoisted me up into a fireman's carry and began to jump from rock to falling rock.

"Yang, how is this possible?!" I yelled. She just flashed me a wink and grinned at me.

"If I think about how I can do it, I can't do it anymore!" She yelled back. Finally, after the debacle was over, she put me down. I stumbled unsteadily on my feet, before regaining my balance.

"Stay here, Darrel! You've done enough." She said, then blasted to the top of a nearby pillar, and began to pelt the circling Nevermore with blasts from her gauntlets. Looking at the beast, I saw that the barb I had shot into its eye was still firmly lodged in there. Looking at the drum on my gauntlet, I saw it was still set on explosive arrows. Maybe if I could direct the Nevermore to where it needed to go…

I fired an explosive arrow at the ground, a streak of light ejecting from the crossbow and embedding into the ground. Standing over it, I shielded myself from any harm with my Aura, and felt the arrow explode, launching me up in the air. The Nevermore saw me, and turned to my falling body. I smiled: the beast had fallen for it. Without thinking, I twisted in mid-air, dodging the Nevermore's open beak, and grabbing onto the barb lodged in its eye. The Nevermore shook its head, but I gripped on for dear life, desperate not to fall again, as I don't think Weiss would save me a second time.

Stabbing into the beast's neck with a sword for an anchor, I ripped out the barb, sending out a shower of blood, vitreous fluid, and God knows what else. Screeching in pain, the giant bird began to shake its head wildly, but I managed to hold on. Flicking the barb clean of as much blood as I could, I started to climb back up to its neck.

"Come on, you son of a bitch!" I growled, as I clambered up with an agility that I never even knew was physically possible. Sitting on the neck, I watched as Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren battle the Deathstalker. But while my attention was elsewhere, the Nevermore screeched loudly, and tried to buck me off once again. Learning my lesson, I stabbed the Nevermore in the neck, using my blade as an anchor once again. While it was a wild ride, I managed to hold on.

*BOOM!*

An explosion resounded near me as a ball of fire impacted the creature in the side of the head, right where the gaping hole that used to house its eye was. It screeched, and flew straight for its attacker. I heard a yell, and before I knew it, the creature's beak was being held open.

"I! HOPE! YOU'RE! HUN! **GRY!**" A voice yelled. Looking around the head of the monster, I saw Yang firing round after round down its throat, punctuating every shot with a yell. I looked up, and saw the cliff wall fast approaching. If I hit that, I'd be crushed. Yang leapt out of the way, landing on a bridge. I didn't think I could do it. I was exhausted and my Aura was spent, after leaping and flying around and steering the giant bird. All I could do was jump free, and hope my legs wouldn't break on impact with the ground. As the bird spun around, I leapt off of its neck, rolling as soon as I hit the ground. Unfortunately, the Nevermore was back on its feet in an instant, its foot pinning me to the ground, and one of its talons dangerously close to my groin.

"What do you have against my testicles?!" I screamed out to no-one in particular. But it was the wrong move. The bird took flight, with me trapped in the grasp of its foot, it's talons slicing into my side. Trying desperately to break free, I saw Weiss leap up, and fire an ice blast at where the bird had once stood. Its ascent halted, I broke free of its grasp, and began to fall. Loading the bloodstained barb into my crossbow, I aimed at a pillar behind the group, hoping to get out of the way quickly. But before I could fire, the giant bird reached down, and plucked me up from the ground by my tunic. Screaming in terror, the Nevermore threw its head up, launching me skyward.

'_This is it. All this effort I've put into surviving, and I get eaten by a giant condor. What a way to go._' I thought to myself. I shut my eyes, and waited for the Nevermore to clack its beak together, and swallow me whole. If I was lucky, I'd probably make it choke.

Right then, through my squinted eyes, I saw a red string of light shoot underneath me, pinning the Nevermore to the cliff wall. Looking up, I saw that Ruby had wrapped the blade of Crescent Rose around the bird's neck, primed for a decapitation. A pain in my side, I spun around, and fired the final grappling barb at the bridge. Looking back to Ruby, who was already running up the side of the cliff, I let out a yell.

"Yeah! Gut it, Ruby!" I yelled in encouragement. Swinging under the bridge and arcing into the air, I landed behind Yang, who had jumped down from a nearby pillar. Holding my aching side, I watched as Ruby beheaded the giant monster in a shower of blood and rose petals. As the body of the beast fell to the chasm, Yang, Weiss and Blake looked up at Ruby, standing atop the cliff, Crescent Rose hoisted above her shoulder.

"Well… that was a thing!" she said. I chuckled, causing the three ladies to turn to me.

"Darn right, Yang. Nobody comes close to Ruby." I snickered, clutching my side. I just assumed it was a bad stitch: I had done a lot of athletic work, after all. But what happened next surprised me.

Yang's face turned from pride to shock. Weiss looked scared at what she saw, while Blake grimaced. I shrugged, confused.

"What? What's the big deal?" I asked. To be honest, I had been feeling a little dizzy since I had landed from the. Yang pointed to her left hand, silently telling me to do so as well. I took it away from my stinging side, only to discover that the skin had been stained a deep crimson. I looked down, and was horrified at what I saw.

Half my jacket had been mangled, and the clothing underneath had been ripped to shreds. Underneath, the wound appeared to be severe: Most of my abdomen was covered in deep scratches, and part of my side had been mauled so badly, I could literally feel the shredded muscle and broken bone heaving beneath my fingers. Blood was pouring down my legs, pooling at my feet. If an ambulance had seen me, they would have just skipped the hospital and sent me straight to the morgue. Suddenly breathless, I fell to my knees, and then collapsed onto my back.

I heard a muffled cry through deaf ears: I could not tell who it was, or where it came from. As my vision began to blur, the last thing I saw was Yang kneeling beside me, and signaling for help, giving orders to Blake and Weiss. Then my vision swamped into blackness.

* * *

**Yes, Darrel was kind of OP, I admit, but anything less than what I've written would have caused him to die mid-fight.**

**Anyway, by my time, it's 4:25 on the 7th of Feb. 8 hours out from my birthday. Consider it a little early birthday gift to myself.**

**Either way, feel free to post a review, tell your friends, and, if you REALLY like it, put it on the FanFicRecs page of TVTropes.  
**


	12. Chapter 12

**Apologies for the delay, but at this period in time, school must take priority.**

**Hey, I have a life beyond writing, you know.**

* * *

**Chapter 12: Team RWBYD**

"_...ake...asy...rel...yo...re...stil...urt..._"

A pain wracked my side, and my hand instinctively grasped it. My fingers slid over flesh, and small lumps on my side. Scars, fresh from the healed wound. As my sight returned, I looked around, taking in the surroundings. Looking around, I found myself in a clinical room, with beds, tables and couches lining the walls. Curtains surrounded some of the beds, and a door was left somewhat ajar. Inhaling, I could detect a whiff of honeysuckle and cinnamon, clearly used to help patients relax. From what I'd gathered, I was in some kind of hospital. I slowly shook my head.

'_It was just a dream._' I lectured myself in my brain. '_I'm still on Earth, I got swept into the sea, someone rescued me, and I'm now in hospital._' I glanced out the window. Stars shone from the black void, along with... a shattered moon?

Oh crap. It wasn't a dream. I really am in the world of Remnant! Instinctively, I began to panic, nearly falling out of bed, before a strong hand clamped around my arm, causing me to freeze in shock.

"Heyheyheyheyhey, calm down, Darrel! You're still on some painkillers, so don't try to move." A voice. One I've heard before. Glancing at the source, my cloudy senses began to right themselves. Yang was the one who had spoken. She was sitting on my bed, with Ruby standing beside her. Blake was leaning against the far wall, while Weiss sat on the bed next to mine. All four were in their pajamas, and their eyes appeared to be red and bloodshot, as if they had been awake for hours into the night. Although looking closely, I could have sworn Yang's violet eyes looked a little puffy.

"Whassa... what happened? Am I dead?" I garbled confusedly. Ruby reached for a glass of water, and pushed it into my hands. Immediately, I drank, gulping down the freezing liquid like I had been stranded in the desert for a week. It burned as it hit my teeth, but I hardly noticed the pain, still chugging the pure liquid like mad. Weiss sighed.

"You're not dead, you dolt. You were nearly torn in half by the Nevermore before my partner killed it. After that, you passed out, and Jaune's team help to treat your wounds. Jaune used his aura to stabilize your wound, I froze your scratches so you wouldn't bleed everywhere, and we helped carry you up here." Weiss calmly explained.

Slamming the glass down, I looked out the window again. I could've sworn that it was morning when I'd passed out.

"How long was I out?" I breathed, water dribbling down my chin. Blake kicked herself off of the wall she was leaning against, and strode over to the four of us.

"About 14 hours. Its two o'clock in the morning. Technically, we're all meant to be asleep by now, but Professor Ozpin let us stay here until you woke up." She explained.

I sighed. Once again, life threatened, and saved by the denizens of RWBY. I really needed a way to thank them, as well as learn how to properly use my weapons and Aura.

"Well, Darrel. Glad to see you're awake. I'd hate to think one of my students had fallen to a Grimm." Out of the shadows stepped Professor Ozpin, his obligatory mug of coffee resting in his hand, with Glynda Goodwitch right behind him with her scroll.

"Professor." The members of Team RWBY stood to attention, which would normally look serious, but given their clothing, actually looked kind of funny. Ozpin turned to them.

"Students, it's late. You should go get some rest. I did agree to let you stay up until your friend awoke." Ozpin addressed the four, who nodded, and walked out of the sick bay. Then he turned to me, a hard expression on his face. Glynda's glare nearly paralyzed me.

"Now Darrel. I must admit, you have... intrigued me. You claim yourself that you are not an able fighter?" Ozpin's glasses looked me over, penetrating my body, and staring into my soul.

"Yes, sir. I'm not a warrior, and I hardly see how I could potentially become one." I droned, my fingers instinctively running over the scars that criss-crossed my body.

Glynda sniffed in disbelief, while Ozpin nodded his head in her direction. She opened her scroll, to show third-person footage of me fighting the Nevermore at the ruins encompassing the cliffs. I had to admit, it looked impressive. If that wasn't my face on the screen, I wouldn't have believed that that was me riding the Nevermore like a dragon.

"Then how do you explain this? You seemed to know what your enemy would do, and struck back with a perfect counterattack. You even managed to ride and control the Grimm, something no sane being would dare to consider, let alone perform."

I looked away, a little scared of what I had managed to do to that kaiju-like bird. Thinking back to when I had first arrived on Remnant, I hated the thought of killing any living creature, Grimm or otherwise. But after having an exterior perspective of my actions, I began to think if it would be best to stay in Remnant. Even though I was barely an adult, I could be very dangerous to a number of people back home. I'd be pushed into becoming a hitman, or worse, an assassin. The government would lock me up, dissect me, want to know why I could shoot blasts of blue energy from my hands. Ozpin cleared his throat, which drew my eyes back to him.

"Darrel, you may deny it, but you have the potential to become a mighty warrior in your own right. You have a strong soul, stronger than any I've ever seen." He continued. I began to twiddle my fingers, confused at this praise.

"Besides, my school does not discriminate against whether prospective students are unrivaled in combat, or if they have any knowledge of their weapons. Beacon is open to you, and I would hate to see your talents squandered. But given your injuries, I will leave the choice in your hands." Ozpin sat in a couch, his cane resting delicately on his lap.

Looking away, I rubbed my injuries unconsciously, thinking back to the initiation, how I fought, and the bonds that I had built with RWBY and JNPR. How would they react if I chose not to attend Beacon?

Ruby would take it hard, undoubtedly. After all, I had been the first to interact with her. Weiss, wouldn't care one way or the other. She didn't like me, and I understood why. If I could have done it differently, I wouldn't have been such a douche to her when we first met. Blake... I didn't know. She supported me during the initiation, even suggesting that Yang and I could potentially work, even though I thought it wouldn't. She wouldn't be happy that I would leave, that much I knew.

And Yang... How would she react? How would I be able to take it, knowing that I could potentially never see her again in flesh and blood? The answer creeped into my mind before I could banish the thought.

'_I wouldn't_.'

In that instant, I decided.

"Professor Ozpin? I've made my choice. I'm going to stay here at the academy, if it's not too much trouble."

Glynda huffed irritably, while Ozpin shot me a small smile.

"Very well, then. I'll see to it that you are back in fighting shape soon. And I must say, I'm impressed with the leadership and selflessness you have demonstrated during the initiation. I only wish more could learn from your skills." He said, smiling. I looked away. True, I remembered giving orders during the trek into the forest, but it was in the heat of the moment. And as for the selflessness, that was debatable. I wanted things to be better.

"Speaking of which, you retrieved the White Pawn from the temple, if I remember correctly. And you are correct: it is a 'wild card', of sorts. You may choose to join a team, but I will only offer four choices. You must choose wisely, as they will be by your side for the next four years."

Glynda swept her finger across her scroll, bringing up four 2x4 grids, each holding four pictures of students. Labeled underneath were the team names: DUNE, RIFT, JNPR, and RWBY.

I had no knowledge of teams DUNE and RIFT, so I probably shouldn't join them. Jaune's team showed promise, but I doubt I could deal with Nora 24/7. And Jaune had enough troubles without being pestered by me. I swiped my finger on RWBY's grid, and it pinged. Before my eyes, Ruby's picture had moved to the centre, while my picture was added to the right of hers. Weiss, Blake, and Yang were repositioned to the left, above, and underneath Ruby's picture, respectively.

Glynda closed her scroll, while Ozpin shook my hand.

"Very well then. You are officially part of Team RWBY. Because you are a late addition, the team name will not be changed." Ozpin released my hand, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Ozpin stood from his chair, and began to walk with Gly... Professor Goodwitch. As she left however, Professor Ozpin turned back to me before he walked out the door.

"By the way, Darrel, your injuries may look horrific, but much of the damage is superficial. Your internal wounds were easily healed, so the nurse has said you can leave when you wish. A word of advice, though: I do not expect you to miss class in the morning." He smiled.

"Got it, Professor." I sighed. Despite being irritated that I wouldn't be excused from class, I was happy that I wasn't dying now. As Ozpin left, I lay my head back on the pillow, and shut my eyes, the calming aroma coercing me to sleep.

* * *

_As my eyes slowly fluttered open, I saw that it was a little later into the night. The moon had disappeared, and most of the lights had been extinguished._

_Looking at my arm, I saw that someone had drawn a sigil on my wrists. Looking closely, I saw that they resembled a plus sign with wavy lines drawn underneath. Moving my arms, I felt a little pain, but it quickly subsided. Feeling around my side, where the Nevermore had nearly torn me in half, my fingers rubbed over an alien material. My eyes rolled down to my side, and I saw that my abdomen was wrapped up with a bandage of some description. It felt smooth, and cool, almost like a gel of some description._

_"Dust-infused medical gel. The nurse put it on you while you were asleep."_

_Startled by the voice, I rolled over to find that hooded woman who haunted my dreams, the one who had given me that crystal that had catapulted me here, was sitting on a couch, legs crossed. She removed her hood, to reveal her snow white lion's ears resting atop her head, along with the green hair with red skunk stripes. She stood up, and glanced at the gel covering my wound._

_"Good to see you're still alive. I must admit, my confidence in you was well placed. Anyone else in your position would likely have been killed. The way you rode that Nevermore was... inspiring, to say the least." She praised, rubbing a smooth hand against my cheek. Irritably, I slapped her hand away, and grabbed the lapel of her robe, pulling her close to me. Surprisingly, she didn't flinch, but I didn't care. If I was brought into this world, I wanted to know why, and I was sick of not knowing anything other than who and where I was._

_"Cut the soft serve, lady. If you want me to help you, then I want answers." I growled. She sighed._

_"It's not that simple, Darrel. I can't tell you..."_

_"Don't give me that!" I yelled. If there was one thing I hated, it was being kept in the dark, and with my life on the line, I wanted details. I didn't want to die not knowing why I was chosen to be brought here._

_"I nearly died twice in the forest, and until you tell me what I need to know, don't expect me to help you out of the goodness of my heart." I continued. The woman gave me a hard look, and a huff escaped from her lips. Finally, she spoke._

_"Very well. You have earned that much, Darrel."_

_I released her cloak from my grip, and she walked back to the couch she had occupied earlier. Sinking onto the cushion, she leaned back, clasped her hands together and began to talk._

_"I'll start with my name. My name is Kimba. As for why you are here... This I have already explained. You will be the catalyst that brings about the Reckoning." She explained, before I held up my hand._

_"Hold on, wait, stop. If you know that I'm going to bring about the apocalypse for both Earth and Remnant, then why would you bring me here? Why not try and kill me, or something?" I asked. Kimba sighed._

_"Because even though you are the catalyst for this event, you are not wholly responsible." She explained. I listened for more details._

_"I am not the only one seeking to use your abilities. There is another who seeks to utilize your abilities, only her intent is malicious. Her goals, however, are unclear, though I presume she only wishes to bring about the Reckoning so she can rebuild your world and this one in her image."_

_Wait a minute..._

_I think I may know this woman._

_"Kimba? On the first night I was at Beacon, a woman contacted me on my scroll."_

_She looked up, interested._

_"Might I ask who it was? Did you get a look at their face?" She asked intently. Thinking back to the call I had received that night, all I remembered was the fact that I would be sent home, nothing more. I looked down, cursing myself for not remembering the details. I uttered one word._

_"No."_

_Kimba sighed._

_"I see. Very well. I suppose she will try and contact you again. But please, try and remember this time." She said somberly. And without a word, she turned and left the medical ward with a simple wave of her cloak. Feeling a tiredness sweep over me, I lay back on the pillow, and shut my eyes, the medical gel still clinging to my side._

* * *

Waking up, i noticed it was a little later into the night. The moon had disappeared behind some clouds, and the stars were less visible than before. I glanced around the room, looking for a clock, or some method of telling the time. Unlike back home, there was no digital clocks, but an pendulum clock above the door said that it was about 4:30 or so in the morning. I decided now would be the best time to try and find RWBY's dorm room. Slipping out of bed, I noticed that the medical gel was still holding fast.

Heading to the front desk, I acknowledged the woman behind the counter, who gave me my back, which still contained the crystal and the Nightmare Maw's tooth, along with the scroll. Changing out of my hospital gown and into my pajamas, I slipped out, checking my scroll to make sure I knew where I was going. RWBY's dorms were on the fifth floor, while I was on the fourth. Shutting my scroll away, I began the long trek to my teammate's quarters. But as I climbed the stairs, I saw Professor Kor at the top, with a tomahawk stuck onto his back, and a candle in his left hand. I tried to slip past him quietly, but he turned and glanced at me with his bandaged eyes.

"Darrel? Might I ask why you are out and about in the moonlight?" He asked me. I looked away, petrified of what he would do. Report me? Drag me away? Detention? Use me as practice for his weapon?

"Sorry, sir. I wanted to get out of the hospital so I could go and sleep with RWBY." I hurriedly spoke, turning to the hallway RWBY's dorm was located. But as I did so, Professor Kor began to snicker. Wiping away some mucus from his dribbling nose, he looked at me.

"Darrel, I know you're a teenage male, but don't you think you're rushing it a bit?" He laughed. I went to ask what he was talking about, when my blood turned to ice as a mental image of Ruby and I engaged in activities that would not be deemed appropriate in public rushed into my head, finally realizing how poorly that sentence had been constructed.

"OH GOD, NO! That is NOT what I meant." I half-whispered, half-yelled in terror. Professor Kor laughed again, rubbing his nose free of mucus, which had begun to dribble down his chin as he chortled at my burning pink cheeks.

"I know what you meant, Darrel, and I'm sorry, but I couldn't let that one slip by." He guffawed. As the blood drained from my cheeks, I decided to head to RWBY's dorm tout de suite, lock up that mental image of Ruby and I deep into my memory, and never speak of it again. Turning back to the hallway, I walked as quick as I could to the RWBY dormitory. Quietly unlocking the door, and slipping in, I saw the four girls were sleeping. Reaching into my backpack, I grabbed my sleeping bag, unrolled it, and threw it into a corner by the foot of Yang's bed. Not bothering to check if I had been heard by the four, I dived into the bag, and fell asleep as if someone shoved a bottle of sleeping pills down my throat. My final thought before I shut down was this:

'_I hope to God that Kimba doesn't see that..._'

But a small cackle in the back of my mind proved to me that wishes sometimes don't come true.

* * *

**Before I sign off, one thing I need to mention: even though I posted that a TVTropes page was in the works, stupid me, I forgot to put in the URL. So if you want to help, go to the link (remove the spaces, obviously).**

**tvtropes pmwiki / pmwiki . php / Fanfic / RWBYReckoning**

**Yeah, I'm shameless. But I'm writing a self-insertion, what else did you expect?**


	13. Chapter 13

**I apologize for the delay, but sleep has not been kind to me as of late. That, and my primary writing device has way too many apps for me to stay consistent, and I have the attention span of a gn-Ooh, StreetPass has been updated!**

**Anyway, jokes aside, I know that some people would like these chapters to come sooner, but I'm working my ass off trying to write these for your enjoyment.**

**Anyway, Chapter 13. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 13: Ruh-Roh...**

*PHOOOOOOT*

"What the Grimm?!"

Before I knew what was happening, a blue flash exploded outwards from my sleeping bag, and I was rocketing up to the high ceiling like a bullet. Before I could get my bearings, I cracked my head against the high ceiling, with little Beowolves and stars now dotting my vision. As I fell, my flailing arm caught hold of a rafter, halting my descent, and leaving me some meters above Ruby, Weiss and Blake. Looking down at the three girls, all of whom were clothed in maroon blazers and tartan skirts, the uniform of Beacon Academy, I wrapped my other arm and legs around the beam, terrified of what they might do to me once I found a way down. If I was lucky, they'd probably forgive me. After they had lynched me, thrown my corpse into a lake and freeze it over, that is.

"Morning, Darrel!" Ruby waved, as if this was a normal occurrence to her. I gingerly removed a hand from my anchor, and waved back. Even if my heart was racing at a million miles an hour, it still was nice to see a face which wasn't twisted in anger, like Weiss's was. If looks could kill, I'd be dead for the twenty seventh time in the past 20 seconds.

"Would you care to explain why you were sleeping in our dormitory, Conway?!" Weiss was furious, and I knew why for a very good reason. No one, aside from Professors Ozpin, Goodwitch, Kor and I, knew that I was now a member of Team RWBY. Given the implications, she probably thought I was a depraved pervert. Obviously, this wasn't the case, but given the circumstances, I couldn't blame her for jumping to that conclusion.

"OK, Weiss, I know this looks bad, but long story short, I'm on your team for the next four years!" I explained, trying to feign happiness. Blake smiled, Ruby whooped, while Weiss looked at me in confusion.

"Wait, you're on _our_ team? I thought teams were composed of 4. Why in the world would Ozpin let a vagrant like you onto our team? Even after you were injured like that?" The heiress asked. I shrugged, getting a splinter in my shoulder.

"Well, I didn't get a partner during initiation, so I had to pick a team. And I picked this one." I simply explained. Weiss blinked, and stomped her foot.

"This is outrageous! He let you join us without consulting us first?! Without thinking about how we felt?!" Weiss ranted.

"Hey, I've been with you guys long enough! I'm not just some fifth wheel here! I helped fight that giant bird!"

"Need I remind you that you got hurt doing so?!"

*BANG*

Weiss jumped at the gunshot, whilst my arms came loose from the rafter, forcing me to hang upside down. Looking at the noise, Blake stood there, with Gambol Shroud in its pistol mode, aiming it in the air. Slipping it away, she spoke.

"Now that I have your attention, I'd like to point out that Yang is stuck in the wall, you're hanging from the ceiling, and we are starting to run late for class." Blake explained calmly. I scratched my head, confused.

"Wait, what? Yang's in the wall?" I asked. Blake said nothing, just jerked her head back behind her. Looking, I saw what she had meant. Yang's head was embedded in the wall, just above one of the beds. Even though all I could hear was muffles, I immediately assumed that she may have been cursing angrily.

"She tried to wake you with an air horn, but your Aura kind of..." Ruby trailed off, looking for the right word.

"Exploded. She was thrown into the wall, and you jumped up into the ceiling." She continued.

"Wait. So I did that?" I asked. Ruby nodded.

"Yep." She said simply. Then she turned to Weiss.

"Weiss, you should help Darrel down, Blake and I'll get Yang out of the wall." She ordered. With Blake and Ruby traipsing off to pull Yang's head out of the wall, Weiss looked up at me contemptuously. She half-heartedly conjured a glyph for me to land on. I let go of the beam, and fell a short ways towards the convenient landing platform. Although as I was about to hit it, Weiss turned to check on Ruby and Blake pulling Yang out of the wall. The glyph disappeared, and my descent continued to the floor. Yelling in terror, I impacted the carpet stomach first, spreading a dull pain through my abdomen.

Blake looked over at where I had fallen, and shot Weiss a dirty look. She looked at me, turned back to Blake, and shrugged unapologetically. Groaning weakly, I hauled myself to the bathroom, whilst Ruby yelled out something about resuming their objective, as Yang was finally freed, shaking bits of plaster from her scalp, and gagging violently. After her mouth was free of mortar, she turned to me.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" She yelled, pumping a fist. I shook my head, and shut the door behind me.

Entering the bathroom, I began to strip out of my pajamas. Throwing the Ursa print tank top into a nearby chute, which I assumed was for laundry, I stopped when I felt the medical gel, still adhered to my skin, though while fingering it, I felt part of the edge had come loose, like a Band-Aid. Pinching between forefinger and thumb, I began to pull. Peeling it loose, a stinging sensation fired in my hip, like an itch inside the skin, causing me to squeeze my eyes shut and grit my teeth. Looking at the now loose bandage in my hands, and watching as it literally disintegrated between my fingers, I glanced at the injury it had once covered.

A large scar circled halfway around my midsection. It wasn't painful, but to a casual observer, they would potentially think that I'd had a bad run-in with a chainsaw. Dotting the path was a series of bruises and cuts, which I assumed was from when I was being treated in the medical wing. But the most shocking thing of all was how... _normal_ it looked. The Nevermore may have only caused minor damage, but my side had been ripped open like an old stuffed toy. Here, it was just a faint line, which would be there for a long while.

Stepping into the shower, letting the cool water pound on my back and slowly causing my fatigue to wash away, I thought about the events of the past three days. I was just an everyday teenager, with no first kiss, no real girlfriend, and no real friends to speak of. But being in the world of RWBY... Something had changed. No longer was I the awkward teenager incapable of fitting in. With a Nightmare Maw's tooth as a trophy and a massive scar stamped onto my stomach... I began to question if I really did want to go home. I mean, I'd made some good friends with Ruby, Jaune and Blake, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't attracted to Yang. God help me if I had to lose any of them.

Turning off the water, I proceeded to change into the Beacon uniform which had been conveniently provided for me. To be honest, compared with my battle gear, it looked a little silly. Blue vest with tie, white shirt and maroon blazer and pants. I never really liked this kind of clothing: the pants clung uncomfortably to my legs and the tie felt a little short of a hangman's noose. Stepping out of the bathroom, I was awestruck at the décor the girls had put up in the room.

Ruby was hanging up curtains with the end of Crescent Rose, Weiss had placed a painting of a forest on display, Blake was stacking a bookshelf with various reading materials, one of which I assumed would be the infamous Ninjas of Love, and Yang had covered the glory hole with a poster of the Achieve Men. I snorted to myself, which Yang noticed.

"What's funny?" She asked.

"I'll explain some other time." I snickered. Stepping forward, I began to help out with decorating the room.

* * *

Standing at the door, admiring our handiwork, I had to admit, I was a little impressed at our efforts. The walls had been covered up by a multitude of posters and paintings, a couple of bookcases were loaded to the brim with books of various topics, four desks were laid in the corners of the room, and a sitting area comprised of couches 'donated' from the medical wing, cushions of various shapes and sizes, and a low table placed in the centre. But there was a problem.

The beds had been laid in the centre of the room, haphazardly balanced in a lofty pile. Now this would bee an issue.

"This isn't going to work." Weiss concluded, studying the mess with her hands on her hips.

"It is a bit cramped." Blake agreed. I had to agree: even if we hadn't sto-received that 'donation' from the medical wing, there was barely any room for the beds

"Maybe we should ditch some of our stuff." Yang shrugged.

"Ooorrr, we could ditch the beds, and replace them with bunk beds!" Ruby cheered. Weiss looked uncomfortably at her partner.

"Um, that sounds incredibly dangerous." She pointed out, before Yang jumped in.

"And super awesome!"

"It does seem efficient." Blake agreed. I nodded.

"2 beds in one space. You can't argue with that." I shrugged. Weiss shot me a dirty look, then looked back to the beds.

"Well, we should at least put it to a vote."

"I think we just did." Ruby chuckled. Looking down the line, I saw Blake smile and raise her hand in a thumbs-up. Yang threw her hands up as double horns and flashed a wide grin, while Weiss stuck her tongue out, and put her hands to her sides. As for me, I just pumped my fist into the air. Having agreed, the four girls rushed forwards, and a cloud of dust rose up, obscuring them from my view. A few seconds later, the four rushed back to their positions, and glanced at their work.

"Objective, complete!" Ruby smiled. Looking at the bunk beds, I seriously began to question safety. The one on the right, true to form, was propped up using some spare notebooks, whilst the left was held up via ropes and had a privacy blanket draped over it. Though while I was glancing at the shoddy construction, I noticed something was missing.

"Wait a minute, where am I gonna sleep?" I asked nervously, wringing my hands together. Yang smiled.

"Well, there's always the floor." She shrugged. I just held up my hand and shook my head.

"Nice try, but the room already has more than enough glory holes, Yang." I deadpanned. Blake just pointed up. I looked up to see a small hammock hanging from the rafter I had grabbed onto when Yang woke me up. It wasn't much — well, it was barely anything at all — but the fact that they had put it up for me was a moment in and of itself. A warm feeling in my heart resounded softly; I had made the right choice.

"Alright, our second order of business iiiiiiiiiiiis... classes." Ruby cheered halfheartedly. Opening up one of the books and grabbing a pencil, she jumped up to the top left bunk, the one with the security blanket.

"Now, we have a few classes together today. At nine, we've got—"

"What?! Did you say 9 o'clock?!" Weiss loudly interrupted. Ruby looked up in confusion.

"It's 8:55, you dunce!" Weiss cried, then turned and dashed out the door. Ruby, Blake, Yang and I followed, glancing out the door. Glancing across the hall, Team JNPR were doing the same, only they were somehow stacked on top of one another. Ruby was the first to react, running after Weiss.

"Uhh... To-to class!" She stammered, sprinting after the heiress. Yang and Blake followed suit, while I watched, as the team next door collapsed in a pile. Jaune dug his way out of the mass, and sprinted after Team RWBY.

"We're gonna be late!" Jaune cried, as he ran off. I decided now would be a good time to go. As long as I followed RWBY, I would be fine. I hoped.

* * *

As it turned out, Professor Port's lecture hall wasn't that far away, just across a courtyard, and down a hallway. Dashing in, and grabbing a spare seat next to Blake, I had a look at what the Professor had displayed. Pictures of various Creatures of Grimm we had encountered during initiation, along with drawings, notes, and diagrams of Beowolves, Ursi, Nevermore, Deathstalker, and a King Taijitu, one I hadn't seen, and hoped I never would. I never liked reptiles: they freaked me out, along with spiders.

Looking up, a battle-ax was mounted on a plaque high above the desk. Thinking back, Port initially came across as an arrogant old bore who loved to recount tales of his exploits as a Huntsman, and capture Creatures of Grimm, much like the character that portrayed him. Before I could think any further, the door at the front of the room banged open, showing Professor Peter Port in all of his self-inflated glory.

Greying hair, styled in a way which would look very out of place back home on Earth, his eyes were obscured by his massive eyebrows, much like his mouth, which was covered by his ridiculously large moustache. Wearing a burgundy suit with gold trimming, and a similarly coloured ascot, his belly bounced slightly as he walked, giving me the impression that he took pride in his appearance, even though he hadn't kept in shape.

"Welcome! Welcome, one and all! Might I welcome you heartily to this class! My name is Professor Peter Port, and I will be teaching you about the very beasts that threaten our short-lived time on this planet!"

Okay, Professor Kor was sort of bombastic, but this was a whole new level. Already, he had bored some of the students into a deep sleep. I tried to stay awake, but it was difficult; I didn't get much rest last night, and with the rude awakening I had received this morning, all I wanted to do was go back to my supposedly comfy hammock, and catch some much needed z's.

"Monsters. Deeemons. Prowlers of the night. Yes, the Creatures of Grimm have many names, but _I_ merely refer to them as prey!" Professor Port exclaimed, laughing at his own joke. No one laughed, but that joke was lame, stupid, and given what I had been through, highly inappropriate. Nevertheless, Professor Port continued on.

"Uhhhh... And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces!"

"Believe me; I have experience in that last part…" I muttered to myself, an angry look on my face. Blake just reached over, and rubbed my shoulder, in an attempt to calm me.

"And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses..." At this, the professor flashed a wink at Yang, who groaned uncomfortably. Ignoring this, he continued on.

"Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!"

A silence, which was quickly broken by a teen in one of the back rows yelling an affirmative cheer, much to everyone's confusion. Looking at the puzzled expressions glaring at him, he sat back down, and tried to look invisible.

"That is what you are training to become. But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man... Me! When I was a boy..."

Well, this was my cue to stop paying attention. But before I could pull out a page and begin doodling, I heard a scratching noise, and saw Ruby doing the exact same thing. I decided to try and make the effort to listen to Professor Port's story. After all, it could have an interesting detail that would help me fight the Grimm.

"Despite smelling of cabbages, my uncle was a wise man. 'Peter,' he told me…"

Or maybe not. Looking back at Ruby, she was still doodling on her paper. Finally, she finished, and held it up for us to see. To put it mildly, it was Professor Port as a ball with stick figure limbs and stink lines coming off of him. Blake and Yang snickered, whilst I grinned. She had no idea how appropriate that drawing was right now. Professor Port was spewing out a pile of sh-

"Ah-he-hem!"

Not even bothering to finish the thought, in case someone in the room had the Semblance of telepathy, I brought my attention to the paper in front of me. I had no idea what sprouted in my mind, but I thought of drawing the woman who had contacted me my first night here. Now was as good a time as any to try and remember, I guess. Resting my head in my left hand, I began to draw what I could remember about that woman in the crimson dress. But to be honest, that was all I really could remember. Throwing my pencil down, I sat back, and listened to Professor Port once again, praying that his long-winded story had drawn to a close.

"The moral of the story? A true Huntsman must be honourable! A true Huntsman must be dependable! A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!" He concluded. Listening to his moral, I was suddenly very grateful not to be a leader. Well-educated, wise strategic, and dependable, I most certainly ain't.

"So, who among you believes that you are the embodiment of these traits?" He asked the class. But before anyone could move a muscle, Weiss's hand shot up in the air faster than I could blink.

"I do, sir!" She yelled out, perhaps a little too aggressively. And then I remembered: Weiss was angry at Ruby for not taking her responsibilities seriously. Professor Port chuckled at this.

"Well then, let's find out! Step forward, and face your opponent!" He cried, gesturing to a cage that had somehow gone unnoticed until now. How I missed it was beyond me: a pair of furious red eyes shone like rubies out of the shadows of the cage, and it appeared to be shaking angrily. Weiss stood up, and left the theatre, presumably to change into her combat clothes. Turning back to Professor Port, I raised a hand.

"Yes, Mr. Conway? Do you have a question? Or do you also wish to partake in this exercise?" He asked me. Thinking very hard about my actions, it was tempting to accept his offer to fight this creature. I felt that I owed the Grimm something painful, after what that Nevermore had done to me. But I repressed this desire, and simply let the question on my mind loose.

"Professor, how on Remnant did you manage to capture a Boarbatusk?" I asked, being very careful not to say the Earth equivalent. Professor Port looked at me curiously and then laughed.

"Ah, my boy, this is one of my most prized creatures in captivity. I have an entire menagerie dedicated to researching the Creatures of Grimm! Unfortunately, this one in particular got a bit… unruly in his space." He explained. As if angered by his captor's choice of words, the cage began to shake even more violently. The padlock holding it closed rattled noisily against the cage. I winced; a little worried about what this Boarbatusk would do should it get loose before Weiss returned.

"So, to my great regret, I've been forced to deal my hand: this will be... 'his last hurrah', as it were. But I wouldn't worry. I've been using this method for years. I know what I'm doing." He finished.

At that, the cage rattled more violently than ever, as if furiously trying to break free. The padlock snapped under pressure, and the cage door fell forwards, revealing the armour plated body of a black, snarling, very pissed off wild boar. It charged forwards, snorting angrily, until its bloodshot eyes somehow laid on me. Professor Port yelled out something, but it was drowned out by one thought rolling through my head.

_Oh ****._

* * *

**Uh-oh.**

**Seeing as this is a self-insertion, I'm going to be straying away from canon for short periods of time, where I can establish Darrel's competency, as well as have him work with his team to control situations that aren't following canon at the time.**

**Like Darrel stated, if he's trapped in RWBY, he may as well try and keep it consistent.**


	14. Chapter 14

**This one took some time. I've been getting stuck into my new computer and Assassin's Creed IV.**

**Now, my laptop's okay, but my computer is going to be used for something my laptop cannot handle. And that is...**

**DUN DUN DUUUUUUNNNNN!**

**Animation.**

**Anyway, here is Chapter 14. The number's important, because that's how many rewrites this one went through.**

* * *

**Chapter 14: They Call Me MISTER CONWAY!**

The Boarbatusk growled softly, glancing the room over, while Professor Port inched towards his desk, reaching for his weapon. As the monster laid its eyes on me, it let out a loud squeal, and barrelled forward, charging towards the desk Ruby, Blake, Yang and I were sitting at. Ruby squealed in terror at the approaching boar, while Yang grabbed Ruby, and jumped up to a higher desk. Blake meanwhile, had a shocked look on her face, but managed to get out quickly. I wasn't so lucky: because all of the girls had me outclassed in speed and agility several times over, I was still in the region of the desk when the wild monster hit its target, causing a portion of the desk to explode into splinters, forcing me on the floor and out of sight.

Ducking behind a still intact area of the desk, I could hear the monster snorting repeatedly, sounding like a machine gun as it tried to see where I had disappeared to. Reaching into my pack, trying to stay quiet, the first thing I grabbed was my scroll. I had no clue what it could be used for, when I saw a large splinter drop between my legs. Looking up, Yang was miming something holding her hand up to her ear, then making a W with her fingers. What did she mean?

At that moment, my cover disintegrated into splinters, and the Boarbatusk growled angrily. Reaching around, shoving my scroll into my pocket, I grabbed a pen, and held it up threateningly, as if to say 'You don't scare me.' Although the effect was lost when it grabbed the pen between it's teeth, bit it in half, and chomped on it's remains, the plastic crunching in its mouth. Getting to my feet, I leapt over the monster, using it's face as a springboard. Landing on the ground, and rolling into a crouch, I looked at the approaching monster, as it charged, it's feet clip-clopping on the tiled ground. As it pulled it's head back, ready to headbutt me away, that was when I struck.

I grabbed the creature's tusks, one in each hand, and tried to wrangle the beast. It snapped at my legs, almost making me lose my footing as I jumped back. Yelling in exertion, I swung it around, and flipped it on it's side, causing it to squeal in surprise. Before it could get back up on it's trotters, I dashed forwards, and pulled my scroll from my pocket. Diving behind another desk, I opened it up, and began to tap on the contacts, desperately searching for Weiss's name. Finally seeing it, I tapped, and a moving image of her looking back appeared on screen. I put the scroll to my ear, like a mobile phone.

"What is it, Conway?!"

She sounded irritated, no doubt, but I had to hurry: that Boarbatusk would soon find me.

"Weiss, could you do me a favour, and grab my weapons, too? Something's happened..." I explained sheepishly, trying to stay quiet as the monster began to sniffle. Weiss scoffed.

"And why should I? If you want to show off, then you can do it in your own time! I don't have—"

"Weiss, just get my weapons! I'll explain later!" I hissed, shutting off the scroll before she could respond. As if right on cue, the Boarbatusk charged through the desk, catching me in its tusks and sending me flying across the room. Landing on my back with a thud, I began to get up dazedly, when I heard a low growl. Looking at the source, the monster had jumped into the air, curling up into a ball, spinning like a wheel. After some seconds, it barreled forwards, its tusks tearing into the ground.

**Use your Aura, Darrel. Focus on your heart, and end this now!**

_You think I haven't tried, Kimba?!_

**Do not get snippy with me! Just do as I say, and let your power loose!**

Deciding not to argue any longer, as it would likely end with what was left of me buried in a sardine can, I raised my hands, and thought back to the initiation, where my aura had protected me from the Deathstalker. My hands tingled, and a glow emitted from my arms. Feeling the power coursing through my muscles, I immediately felt like I could stop a car with my bare hands. Looking up, the Boarbatusk lurched forwards, rolling like a wheel. I had three options: get hit, and hope that my aura would hold out, get out of the way, and leave myself open to another attack, or stop the approaching monstrosity with my bare hands, risking my life if I made the wrong move. The only issue was I had no idea how much aura I had. Either way, whether I liked it or not, now would be the time I found out.

Clenching my fist, I wound back an arm, and threw it forwards, slamming into the spinning black wheel. As my fist connected, a dazzling blue flash shone from my fist, and before I realised it, I lost all sense of sight and hearing, as if a flashbang grenade had detonated at my feet, which left the ground far behind. Flying through the air for what seemed like an eternity, I finally landed on my back, rolling ungainly on my stomach. Looking up, and pushing a lock of hair away from my eyes, I saw that the Boarbatusk had somehow been blasted through about four rooms before coming to rest in the fifth wall, trapped in a crater. It twitched softly, then moved no more.

"M-Mister Conway! W-what in the world just happened?!" Professor Port, who had his blunderaxe in his hands, spluttered. Looking dazedly around the ruined room, I began to take in the destruction our fight had caused. Two of the three front row desks had been shredded to a mess of splinters and panels, the tiles had been cracked where the Boarbatusk had rolled over it, a massive scorch mark where my aura had once again blown up, and obviously, a hole in the wall that could fit Crescent Rose snugly.

"I... don't know, sir." I said, my bruised and battered body bordering on deliriant numbness. Just as I was about to collapse, Yang appeared out of nowhere, and wrapped her arm around my back, steadying me. Yang whispered something in my ear, but they were still ringing from the flash earlier.

"**_WHAT IN THE NAME OF DUST JUST HAPPENED HERE?!_**" A voice screeched in furious astonishment. Even with my ears still numb, the voice raked painfully on my eardrums like a cheese grater. Looking at the source, the one who had burst out was the last person I wanted to see.

Weiss Schnee, in her signature bolero jacket and combat skirt, with Myrtenaster strapped to her hip and my weapons at her feet.

"See previous answer, Snowflake." I snarked. Weiss just shot me a silent threat through her facial expression, though I had some trouble trying to decipher her promise: she either wanted to chain me to a rock and throw me in the sea or castrate me, hack my limbs off and throw me to a King Taijitu.

To be honest, I'd prefer the drowning.

* * *

"How dare you take on that vermin, when Professor Port very clearly stated that it was my opponent?!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Next time, I'll just lie down and let it bite my head off, will I? It just went berserk when it saw me, and I don't know why! I'd prefer not to die, especially what happened at the cliffs!"

En route to our dorm, I began to get into a heated argument over the events that occurred during her time away from the classroom. She believed that I had overstepped my boundaries of being a good student, whilst I still insisted that the Boarbatusk had gone feral as soon as it locked eyes with me. Granted, the Grimm are always crazy, so it's hard to tell the difference on that matter, but unless there was a particular reason, Grimm did not single out a target from a crowd. As far as I knew: wild animals don't just go murderously for one person.

"So is that it?! You don't want to risk your life to protect others? Spoken like a true coward!" Weiss shot back. Her words cut deeply. I clenched a fist, fighting the urge to punch something. Fortunately, before I could succumb to the impulse, Yang spoke up.

"Hey, Darrel was only trying to protect himself. You can't fault him for that." She said. Weiss gave her a murderous leer, and she immediately backed down.

"She's right. That thing went for me and me alone. If it went for Ruby, Blake, Yang or anybody else, I would try to help them." I said, trying to end the argument. Weiss, however, showed no intention of doing so.

"I find that very unlikely, Conway. You're not cut out to be a Huntsman. And you will never be worthy enough to be a part of this team."

Before I could respond, she turned heel, and marched off down the hallway, out of sight. It wasn't like I could come up with a good response. Her harsh words cut deep, even deeper than any blade could hope to do so. I just stood there, mulling the words over.

'_You're not cut out to be a Huntsman..._'

The words repeated over and over in my brain, like a broken record. I was so engrossed in trying to tell myself that it wasn't true, that I didn't notice when Yang placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Forget about the Ice Queen. Weren't we going somewhere?" Yang asked soothingly, releasing me from my stupor. I nodded, and began to run down the hallway, before turning the corner and colliding with someone, landing on my butt. Softly massaging it to ease away the pain of landing hard on my coccyx, a familiar voice resounded from above.

"Careful there, Darrel, my boy! I don't want one of my favourite pupils hurt! Especially after what happened at the cliffs!"

Looking up, I saw that my obstacle happened to be Professor Kor, who was dusting himself off and looking down at me with bandaged eyes. I chuckled sheepishly.

"Yeah, sorry, Professor Kor. I guess you heard about what happened in Professor Port's class this morning?" I asked, being hoisted up by Ruby and Blake. He looked at me confusedly.

"No, I can't say I have, Darrel. What's happened?" He asked, his voice curious. Before I could respond, Ruby cut in.

"Yeah, a Boarbatusk broke loose, but Darrel fought it off! That Grimm was like..." She stopped to make some strangled squealing noises, before taking a breath.

"But Darrel was all like... HIYAAH, WATCHAOOOA, OOOUUUAAAHHH—" Ruby had begun to make various fighting gestures, swiping her hands at various imaginary targets, until Blake nudged her in the abdomen.

"Ruby. We get the point." Blake interrupted. Professor Kor laughed heartily.

"Incredible! And this was with your bare hands?! My boy, you are truly a wondrous warrior! I'm sure that the Creatures of Grimm would cower before you!" The professor cried out, slapping me on the back, and knocking me to the ground. Struggling to get my breath back, I got up on my hands and knees.

"I wouldn't go that far, sir. He did get tangled up in vines during initiation." Yang smiled, hoisting me onto her shoulder, supporting me. I grinned. That vine incident... It seemed so long ago, but now I could smile about it, now that my balls were no longer numb.

"Anyway, I must get back to it. I believe that the four of you and Ms. Schnee have weapons training and sparring tomorrow. I'll see you all there!" Professor Kor waved, then strode past us, as if late for something. We watched him go.

"Weapons training? Why would we need to do that?" Yang asked.

"Well, if you lose yours, do you expect to just punch the Grimm to death?" I joked. Blake shot me a smile.

"Look who's talking." She smirked. Ruby giggled.

* * *

As we continued to walk, we came across a balcony. Looking out, the sun was beginning to set, judging by the orange sky. Almost as orange as it was in my nightmare, the one in which Kimba told me about the Reckoning. The only difference was there were no clouds of smoke, no screaming, no death. But when would it come to that? And would I be ready for it?

"Hey, isn't that Weiss talking to Professor Port?" Yang whispered, pointing to two people standing on the edge of the balcony. Looking out, I did see the white-haired petite figure of Weiss Schnee talking to Prof. Port. I turned to the trio.

"You guys go on. I'll see you in the dorm." I waved. Blake nodded, Ruby gave me a thumbs up, and Yang gave a soft "Uh-huh", before they disappeared down the hallway. Leaning against the doorframe and craning my neck, I tried to listen to what was being said. I knew it wasn't my business, and eavesdropping isn't usually my style, but I was indeed curious.

"So you just blindly assume that Conway belongs on my team because Ozpin has said so?! What about our feelings?!"

"Professor Ozpin's decisions have never once led me astray, Ms. Schnee. I do not doubt that Mr. Conway's addition to Team RWBY is a most unusual case, but if Professor Ozpin believes that this action is a just decision, then it is my duty, as a Huntsman, to assume he means well."

"But why would he not consult us, get our opinions on whether we want him on our team?"

"In all of my time on this planet, there is one thing I have deemed a certainty. That is the opinions of others, no matter their alignment, can have the power to sway a decision, particularly one that has a large impact."

"But he's just such a... a... a irresponsible, immature, irritating, insufferable ignoramus!

"While I must admit he is somewhat rebelliously unorthodox, Mr. Conway is a good-natured man. Do not treat him with hostility, as all it will gain you is a mutual disdain for the pair of you. Rather, accept him as a brother in arms, an ally, and most importantly, a close friend. For that, he might extend you the same courtesy, Ms. Schnee. Isn't that right, Mr. Conway?"

It took a while to register that Professor Port had noticed me, but I trudged out, a guilty look on my face. Weiss turned to me, her blank expression impossible to guess. Professor Port gave me a small frown.

"While I do not appreciate your spying on our conversation, I can forgive you, but only on the condition that you and Ms. Schnee agree to restart your first interactions." He gestured to the space between us, as if hinting to shake hands. I stepped forward, shuffling from foot to foot and trying to hide the guilty look on my face.

"So... Weiss. I just want to apologize. For our first meeting in the courtyard, and for the way I've treated you since then. I don't want you as my enemy, especially not for the next four years. Can we start again?" I asked, holding out a hand. Weiss looked at it, and glanced up to me.

"Con... Darrel, I apologize as well. I did overreact when you lectured me on Dust management, and I've been a little out of line when I talked to you since then." She said, grabbing my hand and shaking it firmly. I winced softly; I was half expecting her to try and break my fingers. She flashed a small smile.

"As long as you do your part for the team, I'll do mine. Is that fair?" She asked. I flashed a small wink.

"Plenty fair." I grinned. Letting go of her hand, I walked to the edge of the balcony, leaning on the rail and looking at the sunset. Professor Port smiled, and let out a hearty laugh.

"Well, that's that! All's well that ends well, eh?" He chuckled, heading back inside. We watched him go with a grin on my face, and a smile on Weiss's.

"Yeah, I guess so." I agreed. Weiss nodded. But before she left, she spoke one last time.

"By the way, Darrel... What you did in class today was amazing." She smiled, then turned swiftly on her heel, and followed Professor Port inside. I smiled: at least now, Weiss didn't want to tear my face off. A small victory, but a major victory, nonetheless. I turned back to the sunset, whiling away some spare time looking at the beautiful orange sky.

* * *

_"He fought and killed a Grimm barehanded?"  
"Correct. You were right: he is the warrior we seek."  
"Good. Ensure that he is kept safe. If he dies, we will lose our chance."  
"I'm aware of the dangers. No harm will come to him, I assure you."  
"See to it. Your negligence nearly cost us our prize last time."  
"Circumstances changed. You have to understand."  
"I understand. Just ensure he remains alive and unaware of his true purpose."  
"Of course. May our Founders safeguard us on the path to enlightenment.  
"May our Founders safeguard us on the path to enlightenment."_

* * *

**Yeah, the reason Weiss is blowing up at Darrel is because , in canon, Weiss manage to kill the Grimm while being distracted by Ruby. Here, Darrel literally wrecked half the room trying to survive the fight. She just thinks Darrel is a pretentious showoff, which, to be honest, he kind of is.**

**Anyway, about my computer...**

**Seeing the panel that Monty and Jordan hosted in ACMI, about their parts in RoosterTeeth inspired me to do something similar. That's just the long and the short of it really.**

**But I do have an idea for a spinoff...**


	15. Chapter 15

**Apologies for the delay. Kind of had a few issues with real life. And I can't think of anything else to say, so let's jump right in, shall we?!**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Playing Catch-Up**

The following morning, I slowly peeled the sheet off of my boiling body. It had been a hot night, and I couldn't wait to get some breakfast going. Grabbing onto the rafter my hammock hung from, I hoisted myself up, and leapt down to the floor, rolling as I hit the ground. With the prickly carpet digging into my bare feet, I looked up to my teammates. Blake was performing graceful moves that resembled tai chi, while a soft track of rolling waves with a mournful horn warbling in the background emanated from a CD player in the corner. Weiss, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Ruby was still writing in her scrapbook, perched on the edge of her bed, and still in her pajamas, minus her sleep mask. I walked over to her, curious.

"Morning, Rubes. Whatcha doing?" I asked. Startled, she let out a soft yelp, and quickly covered the book as her eyes swung to face me. For a moment, I could've sworn that she had an expression of pain and sadness. I knew that it was probably none of my business, but if there was a problem, maybe I could have helped solve it. Even so, I had to play it cool: if Ruby guessed what I had just seen... I don't know what would happen.

"Oh. Is this a bad time?" I whispered, not wanting to disturb Blake from her morning routine. Ruby shook her head, and gave a smile.

"No, no, it's fine, Darrel. Just... Just looking over some stuff from Signal days." She said, a little too quickly. I shrugged, pretending not to notice. Trying to change the subject, I thought back to previous interactions.

"Any... you-know-whats? Like in the ballroom that night?" I asked nervously, wringing my hands. Ruby shook her head, a smile on her face. I sighed in relief: my shin still had a bit of a discolouration from that particular incident.

"Well, I-I'm gonna go have a shower." I hurriedly said, as Blake would most likely rebuff any conversation with sentences consisting of a single syllable, and Weiss was too 'in the zone' to talk. But as my fingers clutched the handle, Ruby spoke up.

"Uh, Darrel, don't go in there, Yang's-"

The warning came too late: I had opened the door, to come face to face with a topless Yang, as she was in the process of toweling off her hair. Now, don't get me wrong: it was purely a lapse of judgement on my part, I had no idea that the bathroom was occupied, and, most importantly, I would rather have the Reckoning happen over this kind of incident any day. But no matter the excuse I could think of, none of them sounded like a good one. Partly because there is no possible explanation that excuses an act like this, but mostly because my mind only had time to conjure up two letters before I was met with a flaming fist to the bridge of my nose.

As I was sent flying across the window and into a pile of cushions, I heard the bathroom door slam, and Ruby dejectedly finish her sentence.

"-called first dibs."

"You don't say." I groaned nasally, lacing my voice with sarcasm and feeling some blood trickle down to my upper lip. Blake didn't stop performing her movements, even though I had narrowly missed her. She just looked down, and gave a wry smile.

* * *

Finally, the group was dressed, my nose had healed, and we were waiting in line to get some breakfast. Yang looked very apologetic, as she snuck furtive glances in my direction. To be honest, I was kind of expecting her to be a lot angrier at me barging in on her. Although Ruby promised to talk to her about this mistake, I still didn't have much hope. I'd seen what she had done to Junior and his goons. No way in hell did I want to go through that. Shuddering, my mind flashed back to her method of interrogation: one more bit of pain in that area, and the Conway bloodline would likely die out.

"Hey, Grimm Puncher! You gonna order, or what?"

The lunch lady gestured to the multitude of platters spread across the counter. I decided on a toasted muffin, filled with bacon, and some scrambled eggs on the side. The lunch lady sighed, and holding up two fingers, went to get the order ready. Waiting, I unconsciously glanced around the crowd, trying to see what some others were having for their meals. One seemed to be having cereal, another a buttered bagel, and a third a smoothie of some description. As I continued to glance, I saw someone familiar standing in the crowd. Someone who was quite familiar.

Kimba.

She just stood there, looking in my direction, never taking her eyes off of me. A serious look on her hooded face, but her eyes just seemed... different. As if she was angry at me or-

"Oi, Grimmpunch! You gonna eat, or did I just make this so you could ogle the crowd?!"

Turning to face the lunch lady, she was holding a plate carrying my order. Turning back to the crowd, I noticed that Kimba had gone. I shook my head in disbelief and grabbed the bag from the lady. She grumbled, and muttered something about 'no respect anymore', but my mind was elsewhere. Why the hell would she show herself now?

"Darrel, over here!"

Ruby calling me over through a crowd... Deja vu, much? Walking to her voice, she had sat with Nora, Ren, Weiss and Blake. Now dressed in their combat gear, they all had plates carrying various foodstuffs. Ren balanced a mug of coffee on his hand, taking occasional sips in between glancing at Nora, who was gorging into a bowl of what appeared to a pile of sugar. Her lips, nose and cheeks were caked in the powder. Weiss munched on an apple, taking a break every now and again to glance at her ice-blue scroll. Blake just kept her nose in a book, a tuna omelette congealing in front of her. Surprisingly, Ruby didn't have a plate of cookies before her, but a plate loaded up with strawberries and bran.

"Strange..." I muttered to myself. Ruby looked up at me.

"What's strange?" She asked.

"It's just, every time I see you eating, it's usually... cookies with a side of cookies. Why the change?" I shrugged, curious. Ruby just stared at me blankly.

"Much as I'd like to, I don't live on them alone. Besides, strawberries are my favourite food." Ruby answered coolly, taking a spoonful of bran and strawberry as if to prove a point. I shrugged: guess Earth had been busy while I was gone. I sat down on a spare seat at the end, next to Nora. She pulled her face out from the nearly empty bowl of sugar, and turned to me, her turquoise eyes shining out of a mask of white powder.

"Aren't you the guy that rode the Nevermore and punched the Grimm yesterday?! You have to show me your skills! What's next on your list, punting a Wahtani?! Could you get it's skull for me?! It'd make a great trophy! My dad's always wanted—"

Before my mind melted, Ren interjected.

"Nora, relax. You'll scare him away."

I chuckled, scratching the back of my head nervously. I couldn't let them guess I knew them already, otherwise things would fall apart.

"Nora? Cool name. Mine's Darrel, Darrel Conway."

Ren gave me a hard look.

"My name's Lie Ren. But just call me Ren."

I flashed a thumbs up at the young man, who took another sip of coffee. Behind him, I saw Yang, Jaune, and Pyrrha, all carrying trays of food. Ruby waved them over, and they sat at our table. Yang shot me a nervous glance, and I felt my nose tingle a bit.

"Oh yes. Darrel, this is Pyrrha Nikos. She was the top graduate of Sanctum Academy, and the victor of the Mistral regional tournament for four years running." Weiss introduced me to her, a proud smile on her face. She turned to Pyrrha, and gestured to me.

"Pyrrha, Darrel Conway. He's the one who nearly died in initiation." She stated blandly. Pyrrha looked at me.

"Nice to meet you, Darrel. I admire your bravado, but your recklessness is terrifying." She said, shaking my hand. I gave a small frown.

"In my defense, the Nevermore kind of carried me away, and things went FUBAR when the Boarbatusk broke loose. My style may be reckless, but I've survived this long, haven't I?" I explained. Pyrrha raised her hands defensively.

"Oh, no, I'm not saying that that's a bad thing. It defines you. You don't show fear, and you're willing to do what others would not. Riding that Nevermore... That was incredible." She gushed, as if she was describing her favourite pop star to a stranger.

"Oh, sorry about that." I apologized. Pulling my roll out of the bag, I began to nibble on it.

"What does FUBAR mean?" Ruby asked. I looked up at her.

"I'll explain later."

Yang gave me another glance.

"Hey, Yang, why do you keep looking at Darrel? Something you'd like to share? Maybe a crush?" Nora asked. Yang spluttered on a drink of orange juice, and reached for a serviette. While she wiped her mouth down, Ruby spoke up.

"There was a... issue in the showers. Long story short, Darrel gets blasted out of the bathroom." She explained. I didn't care that the event of this morning had been revealed, as long as that was all the details that were leaked to the world.

"An issue? Did you like what you see?" Nora asked, her voice taking on a seductive tone at that last sentence. Ren clapped her on the head.

"Nora, do not go there! Darrel would never do that." He hissed. Nora groaned in annoyance. I looked at her, hard.

"Nora, what goes on in Team RWBY's dorms is none of your business until we say otherwise. Understand?" I stated. Nora nodded, a sad look washing over her face, similar to when the Ursa 'broke' back during initiation.

*_Attention students. Could all first year students please report to the weapons gallery for training. Once again, all first year students report to the weapons gallery for training._*

Well, so much for breakfast...

"C'mon guys, let's go." I said, standing up and bagging the rest of my roll, which had been forgotten until now, and throwing it into my rucksack for later. Ruby groaned, and followed suit, as did everyone else.

"Nora, you've got... something." Ren said gesturing to her face. The valkyrie licked her lips, futilely trying to clean her sugar coated face.

"Did I get it?" She asked. I sighed, and began the long walk. How Ren survived knowing her this long was anybody's guess.

* * *

"You may already know this, but in the life of a Hunter, their weapon is all that stands between life... and death. Should you lose your weapon, be it wrested from your grip, or heaven forbid, be destroyed, then do not simply rely on your own mettle. Our ancestors fought and bled with countless weapons. But when their weapons were destroyed, did they run and hide? Did they cower for their lives with a hilt and a metal shard in their hands? They did not. In battle, every fallen weapon has potential. My name is Professor Kor, and I will be teaching you how to best utilize that potential."

Professor Kor stood atop a podium, the holographic arena projecting a massive image of him for everyone to see, so large, his hands could easily pick one of us up.

"You must understand the basics of not just your own weapons, but your teammates as well. If you cannot coordinate attacks that utilize the best of your abilities, then you risk not only your own lives, but the lives of your teammates, the lives you have sworn to defend. Now, I would like to give a quick demonstration. Who here wishes to assist me?"

The hologram of Professor Kor faded from view, replaced by a scanning machine of some sort. As tempting as it was to let my hand shoot up, I had had my moment in the sun yesterday. I didn't want to be a glory hound, and to be honest, I began to feel a little dizzy since I'd stood up from breakfast. So I kept my hand firmly anchored to my side.

"Weiss Schnee. And Cardin Winchester. I see you two are most enthusiastic to help me out. Please, come on up and place your weapons in the scanners." He cried, gesturing to the device. Weiss walked up, and placed her weapon into her scanner. Cardin did the same with his Almace. A loud digital tone sounded, as the weapons were scanned. First came a holographic image of Myrtenaster with a long list of details following.

I would have read the list, in case of an incident where I'd have to use Weiss's weapon occurred, but I was distracted by a tap on my shoulder. Turning, I saw Yang wringing her hands.

"Hey, uh, sorry about what happened in the dorm, Darrel. But to be honest, you should have considered that anyone could have been in there." She whispered. I just pinched the bridge of my stinging nose. Now was the time to lamely explain myself.

"Yang, believe me, there is no way I would do that on purpose. And if I'd stopped to listen to Ruby, it never would have happened. It's my fault, plain and simple. I'm sorry, and it won't happen again." I whispered back. Yang shot me a nervous glance, twirling a lock of her hair in the process.

"Ruby told me it was an accident, so I can forgive you for that. Just promise me that it doesn't happen ever again. I don't want to have you go to the hospital wing again." She placed a gloved hand on my shoulder, giving it a rough squeeze. Grimacing, I nodded.

'_Knowing Yang, that sounds more like a promise than a preference..._'

"And now, Ms. Schnee and Mr. Winchester, exchange weapons!"

Professor Kor's booming voice caused some murmurs in the crowd. I understood why: wielding weapons tailored to their strengths was all these students knew until now. Being forced to pick up other weapons was going far outside everyone's comfort zone. Nevertheless, Weiss's Myrtenaster and Cardin's Almace switched hands. Weiss seemed to struggle with the heavy mace, but mustering the effort, she hoisted it up on her shoulder, face contorted while trying to carry around the heavy weapon.

Cardin, on the other end of the scale, looked positively ridiculous with the royal rapier resting in his massive palms. By size alone, it looked like he was wielding an enormous silver toothpick. Swinging it around, his hands nearly crushed the grip. Clearly, brute force wouldn't work for him here. Though I doubted the man even knew any other way of combat. Most of what I had seen him do revolved around the concept of attacking, attacking, and attacking.

"Now, take your places at the edge of the arena, and wait for the tone. When you hear it, try and defeat your opponent using their weapon."

With those words, Weiss stumbled unsteadily over to one side of the arena, while Cardin to the other. Weiss seemed to struggle, but, after some grunting, finally managed to heft Cardin's weapon aloft. Cardin merely swung her sword around, trying to get a feel for it. Looking at his build, he was more suited to taking a lot of hits and dealing out a lot of damage. Myrtenaster wasn't capable of that: rapiers were used for thrusting and stabbing.

"Fight well!" Blake cheered, waving a pennant that had "RWBY" emblazoned on it.

'_I have GOT to get one of those..._'

"You got this, Weiss!" Ruby shouted, causing Weiss to turn to her.

"Ruby! I'm trying to concentrate!" She yelled out, causing Ruby to shrink back and mutter a small apology.

***BOOP***

As soon as the tone sounded, Cardin rushed forward, slashing Myrtenaster every which way, hoping to hit Weiss with an aggressive strategy. Weiss tried to block with Cardin's weapon, but she barely managed to hoist it up before Cardin slashed at her. Using the weapon's weight, she threw it to the side, flinging herself away from Cardin's attack.

"Come on, Weiss, you can do it!" Ruby cried out. Weiss merely shot an angry glance, but it was replaced by one of worry when Cardin swung Myrtenaster at her, causing her to drop the Almace. Spinning on his heels, Cardin immediately began pursuing Weiss, who had brought up a series of glyphs to shield herself with. Cardin slashed at the impromptu defense, without showing any mercy.

"Weiss, try and use your glyphs to make the mace lig-"

"STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!" She burst out, trying to look at Ruby and block Cardin's strikes at the same time. I glanced at Ruby, and sure enough, she looked hurt at this outburst. As Cardin finally broke through Weiss's shields, she took a chance, and rolled out of the way of Cardin's slash. While Cardin glanced around the battlefield looking for her, Weiss flicked her hand, causing four glyphs to surround Cardin. They turned black, and engulfed Cardin's wrists and ankles, hoisting him into the air, helpless.

"Hey, what gives?!" Cardin struggled against his bonds, to no effect. Weiss said nothing, merely strode over to the discarded Almace, and wrapped her fingers around it. As soon as she lifted, small blue glyphs formed around the handle of the weapon, and she hefted it onto her shoulder like it weighed little more than a twig. Striding over to Cardin, who continued to struggle, she roughly grabbed his chin, causing him to stop resisting.

"If you ever treat my rapier, or any other weapon, like that again, I will cut your heart out." She hissed. Then taking some steps away, she flung the Almace back, aiming right at Cardin's stomach. The mace hit true, knocking the wind right out of Cardin, shattering the glyphs that had previously bound him, and sending him flying into a wall. As he flew, Myrtenaster flew out of his grip, and twirled through the air. Weiss effortlessly caught it, and sheathed the rapier before anybody could react. Then, without a word, she strode out of the arena. Professor Kor took the stage, clapping.

"An impressive display of power, Ms. Schnee. You are truly a wonder on the battlefield!" He said to her. She didn't even acknowledge him. And with that, Professor Kor turned to us.

"Unfortunately, that is all we have time for. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, before the next class. And if anyone has issues, I will gladly assist in any way I can. Good day."

* * *

**Essentially, the main reason Professor Kor had Weiss and Cardin switch weapons was because Monty posted that the characters of RWBY wouldn't just be proficient with their own weapons. It's just my way of interpreting it. Besides, you run out of ammo in Halo, you don't just run over to the same weapon and pick up the ammo from there. You grab what you can.**

**Anyway, I'd like to make an announcement. I will post answers to any questions you put to me. It doesn't matter what the questions are, just ask anything, and I will do my level best to answer.**

**EDIT: Okay, the questions have to be within reason, as in, relating to the story. Thanks a lot, Jozern, you smart-arse...**


End file.
